Almost one in five people who have tried to quit smoking failed within 24 hours and more than half lasted less than a week, a new survey has found.

According to a poll of 6,200 current or former smokers, the average smoker tried to quit four times and one in 10 unsuccessfully tried 10 times, but despite the repeated failures, 45 percent of smokers think about giving up every day, the Independent reported.


60 percent smokers plan to stub out their last cigarette in January, according to the survey on behalf of Pfizer's 'Don't Go Cold Turkey' campaign.

The campaign aims to encourage smokers to talk to healthcare workers about how they plan to quit.