Smoking is the single greatest cause of preventable illness and premature death in Northern Ireland, killing around 2,300 people each year, and robs on average 10 –15 years of healthy life. [1,13,14]

• In 2021-22, 17% of the adult population reported that they “currently” smoked. This is an increase of 5 percentage points on the previous year, but the same percentage as 2019-20. Just over a quarter (27%) used to smoke.

• The numbers who smoke has decreased by 30% since 2011.

Gender

• One in five (20%) males currently smoked in 20-21. This was an increase of 6 percentage points on the previous year. The percentage of females who smoked in 2021-22, 15%, jumped four percentage points on the previous year.

• Younger people were more likely to be current smokers than older people. Almost a quarter of 16-24 year olds smoked, 23% (compared to 15% the previous year) as did 25-34 year olds (compared to 14% the previous year).
• Although, a larger proportion of people aged 16-24 were less likely to have never smoked - 62%.

Areas of Deprivation

• More than a quarter (29%) of those living in the most deprived areas smoke (down from 40% in 2010/11) compared with 10% of those living in the least deprived areas (down from 14% in 2010/11).

• Although percentages who have “never smoked” in the most deprived areas have increased since 2011.

Smoking and pregnancy [20]

• In 2020, about one in eight women (12.1%) reported smoking during their pregnancy.

• The numbers smoking during pregnancy has been decreasing, year on year, since 2010.

Young People and Smoking [13]

• Almost 1 in 10 (9.6%) had ever tried smoking tobacco with only 4% indicating that they currently smoked. This represents a decrease since 2000, when two-fifths (37%) reported ever having smoked and 15% were current smokers.
• 16% of young smokers smoked every day.

• 11% smoked at least once a week but not every day.
• Boys (11%) were more likely to report ever having smoked than girls (8%). Young people living in the most deprived quintile were more likely to report ever having smoked (13%) than those in the least deprived quintile (7%) though the rate of current smoking was similar (5% and 3% respectively).

Read more on our "Smoking" information page.

In 2021-22: [15]

• 7% of adults were currently using e-cigarettes. This was a two percentage point increase on the previous year.
• There was no difference between females and males who currently used e-cigs (7%)

Age Groups

• Young people aged 16-24 have shown the greatest increase in use (12% in 2021-22 compared to 8% the previous year), but most age groups have reported increase in current use since 2014.
• Most young people who reported using e-cigs said they began using it between the ages of 12-14.

Areas of Deprivation

• Those living the most deprived areas (10%) were slightly more likely to use e-cigarettes than those living the least deprived areas (8%).

In 2021-22: [15]

• One in five (21%) were non-drinkers.
• One in five reported drinking 3 or more days a week. Males were more likely (26%) than females to drink this way (15%).
• 6 in 10 people drank at least once a week (or more).

• The most deprived areas were less likely to drink at least once a week (50%) than the least deprived areas (59%).
• Almost 6 in 10 (57%) reported drinking within the recommended limits, compared to 17% who drank above the limits.
• The most up to date information about drinking and weekly limits is 2019-20. [16]

Male and female drinking patterns differ [16]

• Females were more likely to be non-drinkers. 17% of males reported being non-drinkers, compared to 27% of females.
• Females were also more likely to drink within recommended limits, and less likely to drink above limits, than males. 51% of males drank within limits (26% above the limits), compared to 62% of females (9% above limits).

Young people [16]

• Since 2000, there has been a decline in both the proportion of young people ever having drank alcohol and the proportion of those who drank that report having been drunk.
• Half as many young people reported ever having a drink in 2019 (29%) than in 2000 (59%); boys were more likely to report having taken a drink (32%) than girls (26%) and those in Year 12 (56%) were more likely to have done so than those in Year 8 (9%).
• In 2019, 3 in 10 young people aged 11-16 (29.2%) Of those who ever tried, reported that they ever drank alcohol. 0.3% drank daily. 4% a few times a week.
• reported being drunk with alcohol at nay time in the last month 50.8%.

Alcohol-related deaths [20]

• There were 350 recorded alcohol deaths in 2021 - 2% of all deaths. 64% were male.

Read more on our "Alcohol" information page.

In 2019/20: (the last time the data was collected): [21]

• Six in ten (65%) adults were either overweight (38%) or obese (27%) (Up from 62% in 2018/19).
• The number who are overweight or obese has been increasing since 2010

Gender

Males were more likely to be overweight / obese than females.

• Females (38%) were more likely to be normal weight than males (28%).
• Males (43%) were more likely to be overweight than females (33%).
• Two-thirds (63%) of overweight males thought they were about the right weight.
• Three-quarters (76%) of overweight males were not trying to lose weight. For obese males - Four-fifths (79%) thought they were too heavy and half were trying to lose weight.
• Three-fifths (58%) of overweight females thought they were too heavy.
• Half (48%) of overweight females were trying to lose weight. For obese females - Most (87%) thought they were too heavy and two-thirds were trying to lose weight.

Age Group

Obesity in Children and Young People [15, 22,23]

In 2019/20:

• A third of children were overweight or obese.

• Almost a third of  2-10 year olds were overweight or obese (32%), compared to four in ten of 11-15 year olds (38%).

• Males, aged 2-15, were more likely to be overweight / obese than females.

• In 2020-21, 23% of Primary 1 aged children were overweight or obese.
• P1 children from the most deprived areas were more likely to be obese (p 62%) or overweight (p 30%) than those from the least deprived areas.

• 28% of Year 8 children were overweight or obese.

Read more on our "Obesity" information page.

The percentage of people getting the recommended 5 fruit and vegetables a day has increased since 2010, but plateaued in recent years.

• 44% of adults reported getting 5+ portions of fruit and veg a day.
• Almost 6 in ten don’t meet the recommendations (56%).
• Most knew about 5 a day recommendations (84%).

Gender

• Males are less likely than females to meet the recommended guidelines for fruit & veg consumption. 6 in 10 males were note getting their recommended five a day, compared to half of females.

Age Group

• The number of people, across all age groups, getting their five a day, has increased steadily since 2010, but dipped for most in 2019-20, compared to 2018-19

Areas of Deprivation

• People from the most deprived areas are less likely to be getting the recommended 5+ a day (39%), compared to those from the least deprived (54%)

Young people and Diet [24]

In 2019 (most up to date available data):

• Only 18% of young people ate 5 or more portions of fruit and veg a day.
• 5.7% ate no daily portions of fruit or veg.

Read more on our Healthy Eating information page.

Adults [25]

45% of adults are not meeting physical activity recommendations.

• The Health Survey NI 2016/17 [25] was the last Health Survey to ask about physical exercise among adults. It reported that 55% of adults met the recommendations of at least 150 minutes of physical exercise per week.

Males were more likely to meet the physical activity recommendations, and less likely to be inactive.

• Men (61%) were more likely than women (51%) to meet recommendations.

Less than half of 55+ are meeting recommendations for physical activity

• About 4 in 10 adults reported having over four hours of sedentary time per day on weekdays (44%) and just over half had over four hours of sedentary time per day on weekends (54%).

Those living in most deprived areas are less likely than those living in least deprived to meet recommendations

• Just less than half of adults in the most deprived areas reported meeting physical activity guidelines (4r%) compared to almost two thirds in the least deprived areas (65%).

Children and young people

Children in Northern Ireland have the lowest physical activity of UK countries.

• Only 13% of children are meeting daily recommendations [27, 28] - 20% of primary school pupils and 11% post-primary [28].
• Primary school children are sedentary on average 5 hrs; post-primary 7 hrs a day [28].

We are making progress, but slowly, in relation to children’s PA across the island of Ireland.

• The 2022 Ireland North and South Report Card on Physical Activity for Children and Youth [26,27] uses a grading system A-F to create a report card for physical activity (PA) across the island.
• The 2022 Report Card has shown we are making progress in relation to children’s PA across the island of Ireland, but insufficient progress has been made in the area of disabilities. In 2022, for overall activity, the report gave a score of C-, improved slightly from a D.
• Since 2016, for Northern Ireland there has been a decrease from C+ to a C in 2022 for Organised Sport and Physical Activity. Northern Ireland scores D- for “active transportation” – using bikes, walking etc. The card gave a score of F for physical activity specific to disabilities.
• The Children’s Sport Participation and Physical Activity Study 2018 [28] reported that just 13% of children - 20% of primary school pupils and 11% post-primary - met the physical activity guidelines, with girls less likely to meet the targets when compared to boys. On average, primary and post-primary school pupils spent 5.0 and 6.9 hours a day in sedentary (i.e. sitting / not moving much) leisure time.

Read more on our "Physical Inactivity" information page.

[1] Registrar General Annual Report 2021 Cause of Death | Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (nisra.gov.uk)

[2] Annual Report of the Registrar General 2021 (nisra.gov.uk)

[3] QOF - Prevalence: Dashboard (nisra.gov.uk)

[4] Remember, these are just the numbers on registers – this doesn’t include those people who are not on registers for whatever reason, including those who are not aware they have a condition.

[5] Why are they increasing? This is a very complicated question to answer – many factors come into play. Our population is ageing. CVD risk increases with age. Risk factors such as obesity and diabetes, genetic factors, and lifestyle, also play a role. There are also complicated factors like deprivation and social inequalities playing their part. Also, better detection (like in AF) will see more people on the registers.

[6] hs-episode-based-activity-stats-volume-2-downloadable-21-22.xls (live.com)

[7] This number doesn’t include 280,317 people (about 15% of the population) who are registered as having hypertension (high blood pressure). If HT is included, 456,768, or about 24% of the population are registered as having circulatory conditions.

[8] High blood pressure (hypertension) - NHS (www.nhs.uk); High blood pressure dangers: Hypertension's effects on your body - Mayo Clinic https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/high-blood-pressure/in-depth/high-blood-pressure/art-20045868

[9] Focus on Atrial Fibrillation in Northern Ireland. An independent AF Inquiry into the identification and management of AF to reduce stroke risk - EXECUTIVE SUMMARY. (NICHS 2020)

[10] Prevalence is the proportion of the population with a particular condition at a certain point in time. It is a way of assessing the overall burden of a disease in the population.

[11] SSNAP - National (strokeaudit.org)

[12] LGD = Local Government District – these used to be called council areas.

[13] Adult smoking habits in the UK - Office for National Statistics (ons.gov.uk)

[14] Young Persons’ Behaviour & Attitudes Survey | Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (nisra.gov.uk)

[15] Health Survey (Northern Ireland): First Results 2021/22 | Northern Ireland Executive

[16] Young Persons Behaviour and Attitudes Survey 2019 - Substance Use - summary of key findings (health-ni.gov.uk)

[17] Smoking Cessation Services (administrative geographies).ods (live.com)

[18] Information to calculate drinking within weekly limits was not collected in 2012/13, 2014/15, 2016/17, 2018/19, 2020/21 & 2021/22.

[19] Alcohol_Tables_2021 Final Revised.xlsx (live.com)

[20] Smoking During Pregnancy (administrative geographies).ods (live.com)

[21] BMI Levels - Health Survey (administrative geographies).ods (live.com)

[22] Childhood BMI (administrative geographies).ods (live.com)

[23] https://www.ninis2.nisra.gov.uk/public/PivotGrid.aspx?ds=9971&lh=73&yn=2010-2018&sk=134&sn=Health%20and%20Social%20Care&yearfilter=

[24]https://www.ninis2.nisra.gov.uk/public/PivotGrid.aspx?ds=10236&lh=63&yn=2000,2003,2007,2010,2013,2016,2019&sk=134&sn=Health%20and%20Social%20Care&yearfilter=

[25] Tables from health survey Northern Ireland | Department of Health (health-ni.gov.uk)

[26] PA-Report-card-summary-final.pdf (hscni.net)

[27] PA-Report-card-full-report-final.pdf (hscni.net)

[28] https://www.activehealthykids.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/ireland-report-card-long-form-2016.pdf

The most up to date annual statistics were used where available. Data appearing within research reports or studies are correct at the time of publishing. Where we state the number of people “living with Chest Heart and Stroke conditions”, this refers to people on registers for conditions, and does not include people on hypertension register. As people can appear on multiple registers, this cannot be taken to be a head count.