One in five adult Israelis, according to the report that covered the previous year is a smoker. The number remained unchanged in comparison to 2018.
The report further revealed that 25.3% of Israeli adult males smoke, in comparison to 15% of adult females.
The fixed trend comes a surprise since over the past two years major steps have been taken to reduce the number of smokers in the country, including the sell of cigarette in single packages only, storing cigarettes in closed cabinets, prohibition on advertising in newspaper and raising the tobacco tax.
For the first time, information about electronic cigarettes has also been collected, revealing that 1.8% of those who participated in the survey used them at least once.
Among teenagers, a slight decrease in the number of smokers has been recorded over the past two decades.
Some 15% of students in 6th to 12th grades admitted smoking a cigarette at least once. More than a quarter of teenagers have tried out an electronic cigarette in the previous year.
In a different study, conducted after the coronavirus outbreak in March, just over a third of the participants replied that they smoke more than usual.
In 2019, some 30,000 smokers have requested help with smoking rehabilitation, a 5.7% rise in comparison to 2018.
Israel signed World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control in 2003, but did not implant it since, until now. This year Israel jumped to the 7th place among 36 European signatory countries in terms of complying with the convention, mainly due to the adoption of stringent restrictions on smoking in public areas.