UN scientists have confirmed that the ozone layer is no longer disappearing and could be back to full strength by the middle of this century.

The phasing out of nearly 100 substances once used in products like refrigerators and aerosols has stopped the ozone layer being depleted further, although it is not yet increasing, according to a new United Nations report released last week.

And it claimed that international efforts to protect the ozone layer have averted millions of cases of skin cancer worldwide.

The ozone layer outside the Polar Regions is projected to recover to pre-1980 levels by 2048, although the annual springtime ozone hole over the Antarctic is not expected to recover until 2073, reports The Daily Mail.

Ozone in the stratosphere is important because it absorbs some of the Sun's dangerous ultraviolet radiation.

The report was written and reviewed by 300 scientists and launched on the UN International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer.

The reports has been published jointly by UNEP and the UN World Meteorological Organization (WMO).