An increasing number of Dutch café terraces have banned smoking but the total still only represents a drop in the ocean, anti-smoking body Clean Air Nederland said on Tuesday.

The lobby group has counted 113 smoke-free or partially smoke-free terraces this year, compared with just 39 in 2018.

These are mostly cafes were many families come and upmarket restaurants. ‘Cafes and bars in popular nightlife areas popular with youngsters are still lagging behind,’ a spokesman told broadcaster NOS.

There are thousands of café terraces in the Netherlands and the lobby group bases its listing on tips, so it is far from complete. Nevertheless, support for smoke-free terraces is growing.

More than half the Dutch now back a ban on smoking on cafe terraces and 87% think it should be banned in children’s playgrounds, according to research published by campaign group Alliantie Nederland Rookvrij in May.

Ten years ago, just one in six people supported a ban on smoking outside cafes and bars, but that has now increased to over 50%, the survey, carried out among over 1,100 adults by research group Kantar, showed.