§ Mrs. Iris RobinsonTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what estimate he has made of the number of people who have stopped smoking in Northern Ireland in each of the last five years. [187446]
§ Angela SmithInformation on the number of people who have stopped smoking is not available for each of the last five years. However, an indication on the number of people who have stopped smoking in Northern Ireland is available from the Continuous Household Survey (CHS), which biennially includes questions about smoking. Estimates of the number of people who have stopped smoking in Northern Ireland are as follows:
Estimate of number of people (aged 16 +) who stopped smoking 1996–97 16,500 1998—99 22,000 2000—01 24,000 2002—03 25,000 Notes: 1. The figures have been calculated using the percentage of respondents to the survey who stated that they had stopped smoking in the previous year. These percentages have been applied to the mid-year estimate population numbers to produce an estimated figure for the number of people in Northern Ireland who stopped smoking in the previous year. 2. Figures are rounded to the nearest 500. Source: Continuous Household Survey.