Smoking is back on the rise in Italy for the first time since tough anti-smoking laws were adopted six years ago, according to the Higher Institute of Health (ISS) observatory on smoking and alcohol consumption.
Based on a survey carried out by the DOXA research group, the study found that 25.4% of Italians over the age of 15 smoke today compared to 22% a year ago.
This was equal to over 13 million Italians of which 7.1 million were men and 6.5 million women, as opposed to 11.2 million people in 2008, 6.5 million men and 4.7 million women.
According to the report, the increase in the number of smokers ''in part responded to a decrease in the number of ex-smokers, who represented 18.4% of the population in 2008 and today 14.6%''.
This meant that many people who were able to kick the habit are hooked once again.
Last December, the soci-economic think tank CENSIS said that the number of Italians who smoke dropped from 25.8% of the population to 23% from 1993 and 2006, with people smoking more than a packet a day down 10.8% to 7.5%.
However, this contrasted with an ISS report in May 2008 which said that chain smoking was on the rise with 36% of smokers getting through more than a pack a day, an increase of four percentage points over the previous year.
