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Statistical article

Adult smoking habits in the UK: 2023

Cigarette smoking habits among adults in the UK, including how many people smoke, differences between population groups, changes over time and use of e-cigarettes.

Release date : 1 October 2024
Next release : To be announced

Version : Latest
View previous releases

Contact : Health.data@ons.gov.uk

Headline facts and figures

6.0 million

people smoked cigarettes (aged 18 and above) in the UK in 2023

25 to 34 age

highest propotion of current smokers (14%)

5.1 million

adults aged 16 years and over uses an e-cigatette daily or occasionally

Local authority smoking prevalence

Current smoker estimates for each local authority (Figure 2) can vary a lot from year to year because of small sample sizes. So, we have used a five-year average to give a clearer picture of how smoking prevalence varies between local authority areas, rather than focusing on one year’s figures. You can still find annual smoking estimates by local authority in our accompanying Smoking habits in the UK and its constituent countries dataset.

Local authorities with the highest average percentage of current smokers are:

  • Fenland with 22.1%
  • Blackpool with 21.3%

Local authorities with the lowest average percentage of current smokers are:

  • Woking with 5.3%
  • St Albans with 5.7%%
Important Information
Smoking prevalence estimates by local authority area are based on smaller sample sizes, and therefore fluctuate more each year than national-level estimates. So, we have used a five-year average to compare smoking prevalence between local authority areas.

Percentage who were current smokers, all people aged 18 years and over by local authority, UK 2019 to 2023

Figure 2: The average percentage of current smokers by local authority of the UK

Source - Annual Population Survey from the Office for National Statistics
Download Figure 2 data:

Excel spreadsheet (XLSX format, 40KB)

Footnotes

  1. The averages presented are 5-year rolling averages, calculated using data from 2019 to 2023, where available.
  2. The 5-year rolling estimates have ranges of uncertainty (confidence intervals), which can be found in the accompanying data download.
  3. North Northamptonshire and West Northamptonshire averages are based on a 2-year average (2022 and 2023), because of boundary changes.
  4. City of London and Buckinghamshire Unitary Authority averages are based on a 3-year average (2021 to 2023), because of boundary changes.  
  5. Official smoking prevalence estimates for Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland should be taken from devolved health or national surveys.