The government says it is looking to expand non-smoking public areas in Hong Kong as the percentage of smokers drops to single digits for the first time.

According to a survey by the Census and Statistics Department, 9.5 percent of the population aged 15 and over – or just over 581,500 people – were recorded as being “daily conventional cigarette smokers”.

The number of smokers in the city has held steady at around 10 percent since 2012, compared to the 23.3 percent in 1982 when records first began.

The survey also found an increase of e-cigarette smokers aged 15 or above from 0.1 percent in 2019 to about 0.3.

It also found about 83 percent of the city’s population had been exposed to second-hand smoke in outdoor public areas during the seven days before the survey.

Some of the most-commonly cited places of exposure to second-hand smoke include pedestrian walkways, outside buildings or entrances, and open-air bus or taxi stops.

Speaking to reporters at a press briefing on Thursday, Health Secretary Sophia Chan welcomed the downward trend in the smoker population, but said the "endgame” target is to try to bring the rate down to 7.8 percent by 2025.

Chan said that the government will launch a month-long campaign in June to try to encourage current smokers to quit, and discourage others from taking up the habit.

She said the government will also consider extending the smoking ban to more public places, reducing the overall attractiveness of tobacco products, and raising the legal age for purchasing cigarettes.

She referred to countries like Singapore and the US where the legal smoking age is 21, and also to New Zealand which has effectively banned the sale of tobacco to anyone born after 2008.