Number of young London smokers halves as more vape

THE proportion of young people in London who smoke has halved in over a decade, figures have revealed, amid a sharp rise in vaping.

- Daniel Keane

Analysis by the Standard shows that only 10.1 per cent of those aged between 18 and 24 regularly smoked cigarettes last year - a drop of 10.7 per cent on the figure reported in 2011.

Londoners in the age group are the least likely to smoke of any region in England, according to figures released by the Office for National Statistics. Men were slightly more likely (10.7 per cent) to smoke than women (9.4 per cent).

Across all age groups, only 11.7 per cent of Londoners said they smoked cigarettes last year-a decline of 7.5 per cent in 12 years. This was lower than the national average of 12.9 per cent.