The number of smokers in the Netherlands will have risen to 26.2% of the adult population by the end of this year, anti-smoking lobby Stivoro says on its website.

In 2011, the percentage of over-18s who smoke was 25%, but that will go up by 170,000 people this year, research by TNS Nipo shows.
The organisation blames the increase on the relaxation of the smoking ban in small cafes and the removal of help with stopping smoking from the basic health insurance package.
‘Government policy appears to have directly influenced the number of smokers,’ Stivoro director Dewi Segaar, said in a statement.
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