New figures released today show the majority of Welsh adults support plans for Wales to become smoke-free.

The figures come just weeks after Welsh Government unveiled its plans to reduce the number of adult smokers in Wales to 5% or less by 2030. 

The annual YouGov survey run by the tobacco control charity ASH Cymru gathers the opinions of over 1,000 adults in Wales.

The new figures reveal the majority of Welsh adults (68%) support Welsh Government in setting a target to end smoking in Wales, by reducing smoking rates to 5% by 2030. In contrast, only 10% of Welsh adults opposed this move.

Internationally a 5% smoking rate is viewed as the threshold that grants a country the status of ‘smoke-free’.

READ MORE: Welsh Government launch ambitious plans to tackle smoking in Wales

The Welsh Government has launched a new strategy to reach this status, which will mean reducing smoking rates from 13% (2022) to 5% by the end of the decade. The strategy has been launched to help combat the harms of smoking, which is estimated to claim over 5,000 Welsh lives each year.

The latest figures mark that an overwhelming majority (89%) of Welsh adults support smoking bans in children’s play areas, up from 83% in 2017. In 2021, Wales became the first country in the UK to legislate for bans on smoking at playgrounds and school grounds.

Furthermore, the majority of Welsh adults (83%) were in support of requiring businesses to have a valid licence to sell tobacco, which can be removed if they sell to underage smokers more than once. Only 4% of Welsh adults opposed this move. 

READ MORE: 30,000 illegal cigarettes seized by Trading Standards officers across Wrexham

Other areas of the Welsh smoking landscape were examined in the survey, which in turn marked strong support for the following:

84% support the banning of cigarette butts that contain plastic, to help protect the environment.

67% support increasing investment in public education campaigns on smoking.

71% believe that all Government health policies should be protected from the influence of the tobacco industry.

The newly released results have been hailed as progressive by the tobacco control charity ASH Cymru, who have urged the Welsh Government to take the results into account within its efforts to address smoking.

Suzanne Cass, CEO of ASH Cymru, said: “The Welsh Government has recently published a bold tobacco control strategy that seeks to significantly reduce the death and disability caused by smoking in Wales.

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"Today’s survey shows strong majority support for many of the actions relayed in the Government’s new strategy, but most importantly, the survey highlights which actions matter most to our society.

"There is solid support for actions that protect children, the environment, and improving education around smoking in Wales. I urge Welsh Government to approach these areas with renewed vigour in light of strong public support.”