Only one in ten young people in Ireland is now a smoker.

Recent data from the Health Behaviour in School-Aged Children report found that between 1998 and 2010, the number of young smokers almost halved to 11.9%.

There has also been a sizeable drop in the number of young people who have tried smoking, with less than half of 15 to 17-year-olds having tried smoking in 2010, compared to 62% in 2002.

Significantly fewer young people have meanwhile experienced their first cigarette by the age of 13. In 2002, 60.2% of those questioned had tried their first cigarette by the age of 13, with that figure dipping to 48.9% in 2010.

The figures show Ireland is on track to have less than 5% of the population smoking by 2025, in line with the Government’s Tobacco Free Ireland policy.

Hundreds of young people are gathering in Dublin today for the Irish Cancer Society's X-Hale film festival, which features films made by young people on the subject of smoking.