Belfast has among the highest rates of smokers in the UK, according to new figures.
Statistics released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) on Tuesday reveal the city is ranked among one of the worst for the number of adult smokers in the UK.
The figures show the estimated proportion of the adult population who are current smokers in each local authority in the UK.
All the figures are five-year averages covering the period 2019-23.
The research shows that Fenland, in Cambridgeshire, had the highest proportion of adult smokers at 22.1%, followed by Blackpool at 21.3% and North Lanarkshire at 20.8%.
Belfast, which was placed in fourteenth place, had an average of 18.4%.
Other Northern Ireland council areas included Derry and Strabane at 14.9%, Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon at 14.6%, Mid and East Antrim at 14.2%, Ards and North Down at 13.5%, Newry, Mourne and Down at 12.9%, Mid Ulster at 12.3% and Lisburn and Castlereagh at 10.1%.
The ONS’s Annual Population Survey (APS) also estimates around 11.9% of people aged 18 or over - the equivalent of around six million - smoked cigarettes in the UK in 2023.
It is the lowest proportion of current smokers since ONS records began in 2011.
The age group with the highest proportion of current smokers is 25 to 34 with 14%.
The figures come just months after a gradual smoking ban was among 18 new laws proposed by the Labour government which are set to extend to Northern Ireland.
The legal smoking age is a devolved issue, so the Stormont Assembly sets its own laws around it.
But NI secretary of state, Hillary Benn has said the Labour government would “work collaboratively with the Northern Ireland Executive to secure the legislative consent of the Assembly where appropriate”.
