The spike in cigarette prices last year did not help people give up smoking, the latest data by the Seoul city government showed Sunday.

According to findings submitted to a city councilman by checking information gathered from stop smoking clinics and centers set up to help people end their tobacco dependence, there were some 69,982 enrolled in support centers in the capital city in 2014, with 39,858 succeeding in giving up the bad habit.

In 2015, when the government raised prices for a pack of cigarettes by 2,000 won ($1.7) to around 4,500 won, 108,649 people registered at anti-smoking centers around the city, with those that eventually succeeded reaching 33,279 by the end of the year.

"There was an increase in smokers wanting to quit after prices went up, but this did not translate into a rise in the number of people who actually succeeded," a municipal official said.

He pointed out that compared with 2014, the overall number of people who actually succeeded in giving up smoking backtracked by 6,579.

"This shows that despite efforts to curb smoking by marking up prices, the results did not meet expectations set by the central government," the insider said.

For 2016, the data showed that from January through September, 56,321 people joined anti-smoking clinics but so far only 15,548 have been successful.

Data showed that compared with the year before there was a drop in people even professing a wish to give up smoking.

City authorities attributed the decline to people becoming more accustomed to higher prices, which is causing fewer people to consider giving up smoking.

It said to get more people to stop smoking, a more thorough examination of anti-smoking policies needs to be explored, with every effort being made to assist people who express a desire to quit. (Yonhap)