FEATURE
SMOKING RATES ACROSS UK
FALL WITH STEEP DECLINE
AMONG YOUNG ADULTS
“Our ambition for a smokefree nation is in sight,”
Duncan Selbie: Chief Executive of Public Health England.
The continual decline in popularity in smoking in the UK that
health chiefs are predicting that we are on course to become a
smoke-free nation.
Latest government statistics show that smoking rates continue
to fall with a particularly sharp decline since 2010 amongst
younger people.
New data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) reveals
that in 2016, 15.8% of adults in the UK smoked, down from 17.2%
in 2015.
When broken down by country, the adult smoking rates are as follows:
ENGLAND SCOTLAND WALES NORTHERN IRELAND
15.5% 17.7% 16.9% 18.1%
Meanwhile vaping is on the increase with 5.6% of the UK
population - around 2.9 million people - using e-cigarettes in 2016.
For those who do smoke, the data showed that average
daily cigarette consumption still remained at some
of the lowest levels since 1974 for both men and women.
Although the average daily cigarette consumption for men in
Great Britain increased slightly in 2016 to 12, this increase was
not statistically significant. For women, the average consumption
in 2016 was similar to that observed in 2015 at 11cigarettes.
Duncan Selbie, chief executive of Public Health England, said the
UK had the second-lowest smoking rate in Europe after Sweden.
Writing in the Public Health Matters blog Mr Selbie added: “Even
before the publication of these new figures, an EU survey last
month, the Eurobarometer, shows that the UK has the second
lowest smoking rates in Europe after Sweden.
“It is a great achievement that we are at the forefront in Europe in
tackling smoking but it also shows that, compared to Sweden, we
still have some way to go.”
Mr Selbie added: “What is really fantastic news is that this steep
decline is even greater among young adults (aged 18 to 24),
where smoking has fallen by a staggering quarter since 2010,
reversing a long trend.
96 ISSUE 12 VAPOUROUND MAGAZINE
Average daily consumption of cigarettes among current smokers
for men and women aged 16 and over Great Britain, 1974 to 2016
MEAN
1974 - 18.4
2016 - 12.0
1974 - 13.7
2016 - 11.0