Number of smokers stops declining

Seventeen percent of Danes said they smoked regularly, though 55 percent want to stop

The number of smokers in Denmark has stopped declining and may have even increased a little according to DR Nyheder.

A Gallup poll of 5,000 Danes compiled in December shows that 17 percent of respondents regularly smoked in 2013, which is the same number as the year before.

While this is a drop from 25 percent in 2005, if the number of electronic cigarette smokers is also included, the number of smokers may have actually increased in 2013 compared to 2012.

READ MORE: EU tightens anti-tobacco laws

Not a big deal
“Of course we would have liked to have seen a drop [in the number of smokers], but if it doesn’t happen this year it’s not a big deal,” Jørgen Falk, a consultant at the health board Sundhedsstyrelsen, told DR Nyheder.

“But if the study shows the same result next year then it is very serious. We have witnessed a stable fall over a long period so if we suddenly get more studies showing no continued fall, that would be worrying,” he added.

The poll wasn’t all doom and gloom for the nation’s lungs, given that 55 percent of respondents said they wanted to stop their habit.

“We are seeing a steady increase in the number of smokers who want to stop, and of course they should get the help they need,” Falk said.

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