Hong Kong's smoking rate in 2021 of 9.5% is the lowest in the Asia region.
Hong Kong’s secretary for food and health, Professor Sophia Chan, announced that the smoking prevalence rate in Hong Kong dropped steadily going from 23.3% in the early 1980s to 9.5% in 2021. Hong Kong now has the lowest smoking prevalence in the Asia region.
According to the latest Thematic Household Survey (THS) report published by the Census and Statistics Department, about 581,000 persons smoked conventional cigarettes at the time of the survey conducted from April-July last year, accounting for 9.5% of the local population aged 15 and above. The corresponding figure in 2019 was 10.2%.
For alternative smoking products, according to the THS Report, the percentage of daily e-cigarette smokers aged 15 and above in the population was 0.3% in 2021 (around 17,500 persons), while the corresponding percentage was 0.1% in 2019 (around 7,200 persons). For heated tobacco products (HTPs), the survey found that the percentage of daily HTP smokers aged 15 and above in the population was 0.1% (around 8,400 persons), while the corresponding percentage was 0.2% in 2019 (around 13,100 persons).
The Food and Health Bureau commissioned the School of Public Health of the University of Hong Kong to conduct a school-based survey from December 2020 to December 2021 on smoking patterns among primary and secondary students (HKU Study). According to the HKU Study, the smoking prevalence rate among primary and secondary students remained low, but the percentage of secondary students smoking e-cigarettes increased. The HKU Study also found that 1.1% of secondary 1 to secondary 6 students claimed in the 2020/21 school year that they were smoking e-cigarettes at the time, while 0.8% was recorded in 2019.
Professor Chan pointed out that the government hopes that the prevalence rate of using alternative smoking products will decrease with the Smoking (Public Health) (Amendment) Ordinance 2021 (Amendment Ordinance) which came into effect on April 20. The importation, promotion, manufacture, sale, or possession for commercial purposes of alternative smoking products, including e-cigarettes, HTPs, and herbal cigarettes is no longer allowed.