THE North West is the only region in the country where more women than men smoke cigarettes.

We are also the nation's biggest television watchers, and the area has the highest proportion of children born outside marriage, according to Government statistics released today.

The vast collection of facts and figures compiled annually by the Office for National Statistics, looks at a wide range of factors to paint a portrait of Britain today.

On employment, the North West shows a definite feelgood factor, with one of the biggest falls in the country for unemployed people claiming benefits.

Average earnings for full-time employees were second only to those in the South East at £354 a week for men, and £254 for women.

The jobs boost encouraged people to buy their own homes, with nearly three-in-every-five building society loans granted in the North West going to first-time buyers, the second highest proportion in the UK.

At the same time, recorded crime fell by six per cent, and the region had the highest clear-up rate in England and Wales in 1994.

On health, the North West again fared well. At the end of September last year, the North West Regional Health Authority area was the only RHA area where no-one waiting for admission to hospital had been waiting a year or longer.

The downsides of life in the North West are also highlighted.

Average daily traffic flow on major roads in the North west is second only to that in the South East.

And the area is the wettest English region, with average rainfall almost half as much again as the average.

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