Number of smokers in UK continues to drop

The number of people who smoke in the UK has continued to drop.

That's according to new figures released by the Office for National Statistics.

It reveals that 6.9 million people in the UK, 14.1% of the population over 18, smoked cigarettes last year, down from 14.7 in 2018.

Other key findings include:

Of the constituent countries, 13.9% of adults in England smoked, 15.5% of adults in Wales, 15.4% of adults in Scotland and 15.6% of adults in Northern Ireland.
In the UK, 15.9% of men smoked compared with 12.5% of women.
Those aged 25 to 34 years had the highest proportion of current smokers (19.0%).
In the UK, around 1 in 4 (23.4%) people in routine and manual occupations smoked, this is around 2.5 times higher than people in managerial and professional occupations (9.3%).
In Great Britain, more than half (52.7%) of people aged 16 years and above who currently smoked said they wanted to quit, and 62.5% of those who have ever smoked said they had quit, based on estimates from its Opinions and Lifestyle Survey (OPN).
In Great Britain, 5.7% of respondents in 2019 said they currently used an e-cigarette, which equates to nearly 3 million adults in the population.

The publication is produced in partnership with Public Health England.

Author: Julie Bissett