The number of smokers among New Yorkers is down to a little more than 14 percent. Governor Cuomo’s office says the smoking rate for New York adults in 2016 was down about four points from the 18 percent who smoked in 2011.
That’s a decrease of about 22 percent and puts the percentage of smokers in New York at less than the national average of about 15.5 percent.
Governor Cuomo said this is a record low and shows New York’s anti-smoking program is working. Cuomo calls it critical to public health and says the state will keep up the effort.
The highest percentage of smokers is in the North Country, where 23 percent of the population still light up. The lowest is in the Hudson Valley with 11 percent. The Finger Lakes region is just over 18 percent.