Smoking by South Korean adult men fell significantly in September from six months earlier due mainly to a hike in cigarette prices and continued anti-smoking campaigns, the government said Wednesday.
According to a survey of 1,990 adult males conducted by pollster Gallup Korea, the male smoking rate was 45.9 percent in September, down 3.3 percentage points from March when the nation saw the rate fall below 50 percent for the first time, the Ministry of Health and Welfare said.
The smoking rate among men, which peaked at 79.3 percent in 1980, dropped to 67.6 percent in 2000 and 49.2 percent in March 2006.
The fall in the men's smoking rate was attributed largely to an increase in cigarette prices. In December 2004, the government upped cigarette prices by 500 won (US$0.53) a pack by raising taxes on them. Cigarettes currently cost between 2,000 and 3,000 won a pack in South Korea.
The ministry added that its continuous anti-smoking campaigns through advertisements and counseling programs seem to have contributed to raising public awareness about the bad effects of smoking on health.
The ministry said it is aiming to reduce the male smoking rate to 30 percent by 2010 to decrease the number of deaths from smoking, which costs the nation's welfare system 10 trillion won.
According to the ministry, smoking-related deaths number 42,000 per year.
Seoul, Sept. 27 (Yonhap News)
S. Korea's male smoking rate falls to 45.9 pct |