Adults’ health-related behaviours
This report provides key statistics for adults aged 16 and over with commentary on prevalence in 2019 and on trends over time. It looks at the proportions of adults who smoked cigarettes, used e-cigarettes and who drank alcohol and how these varied across groups.
Highlights
- Current cigarette smoking among adults has steadily declined from 27% in 1993 to 16% in 2019. The proportion of adults who have never regularly smoked increased from 46% in 1993 to 60% in 2019. More men (18%) than women (15%) reported that they currently smoked.
- The likelihood of being a current smoker increased as household income decreased, from 10% of adults in the highest income quintile to 27% in the lowest income quintile.
- In 2019, 6% of all adults were defined as current e-cigarette users. As with cigarette smoking, men were more likely to be current e-cigarette users (7% of men and 5% of women).
- 57% of adults drank at levels which put them at lower risk of alcohol-related harm, that is, 14 units or less in the last week. 53% of men and 62% of women drank at levels which put them at lower risk of alcohol-related harm.
- The proportion of participants who reported drinking on five or more days in the last week increased with age from 2% of 16 to 24 year olds to 18% of 55 to 74 years olds and 17% of adults aged 75 and over.
Download the report and tables here.