Copenhagen - Smoking is on the decline in Denmark where roughly one in four people smoke daily, a new survey published Monday said. A record number of Danish smokers also want to quit the habit, the survey said.
The findings also indicated that there is support for hiking tobacco prices - such a move was supported by 59 per cent and opposed by just 19 per cent.
In all 23 per cent of Danish nationals over 15 years of age smoke daily, totalling roughly 1 million people. In addition some 200,000 people, or 5 per cent of the population, smoke occasionally, the new survey said.
A year ago, 24 per cent of the Scandinavian country's some 5.5 million people were estimated to smoke daily.
Smoking was less prevalent among younger sections of the population, the 2008 survey said. While 11 per cent of 15- to 18- year-olds smoked daily, 30 per cent of 50- to 59-year-olds smoked.
More than half the number of smokers, 59 per cent, said they planned to quit smoking according to the survey compared to 54 per cent in 2007.
Jorgen Falk of the National Board of Health, who helped supervise the study, said the decrease among younger smokers was a positive factor for the future.
Legislation restricting smoking in workplaces that was adopted two years ago has also reduced the risk of secondhand smoke, the study said.
Polling company TNS Gallup conducted the online survey among 4,523 Danish nationals during a three-week period from end of November to mid-December.
The survey was commissioned by the National Board of Health, the Danish Heart Foundation, the Danish Lung Association, and the Danish Cancer Society.
