CAMPAIGNERS in the North-East have said the “stress and worry” of a very severe recession may be the reason why smoking rates in the region have increased.

Statistics from the Government’s Integrated Household Survey show that smoking rates in the North-East increased from 22.1 per cent of adults in 2012 to 22.3 per cent in 2013.

This slight increase is against the background of falling adult smoking rates since the tobacco control agency Fresh was set up in 2009 to help drive down smoking prevalence in the region.

Nationally, smoking in England has fallen significantly over the past 12 months from 19.5 per cent in 2012 to 18.4 per cent in 2013 – which means that the Government has achieved its ambition to reduce overall adult smoking to 18.5 per cent by 2015.

But this latest rise in the North-East means that the region, which has seen the largest falls in adult smoking in the country in the last decade, is playing catch-up.

When Fresh started 29 per cent of the adult population of the region smoked. That had gone down to as little as 20 per cent in 2010/11.

Ailsa Rutter, director of Fresh, said: "It is worrying to see smoking rates remaining at 22 per cent. The North-East saw the highest falls in smoking in England from 2005 to 2010, but we have been through a very severe recession that has affected our region badly, with unemployment twice as high as some other parts of the country, and we know people experiencing stress and worry feel less likely to quit.

“Without concerted efforts regionally and locally to tackle smoking, the situation may have been worse.

“Smoking is our biggest killer and cause of health inequalities. These figures highlight that although fewer children are smoking than ever before, we can’t take our attention away from encouraging adults to stop and giving them the best support to make quitting easier.

“Today’s figures show there is no room for complacency. Tackling tobacco must remain a key priority at international, national, regional and local levels.”

Deborah Arnott, chief executive of health charity ASH, said: “Tough new measures to regulate tobacco, like plain standardised packaging, are needed if we are to drive down smoking still further.”

Smoking remains the single biggest preventable cause of premature death in the UK today. It is responsible for one in five of all deaths in adults aged 35 and over.