Statistics on smoking

Contents

• Smoking: adults
• Smoking: young people
• Vaping
• Hospital admissions and deaths due to smoking
• Costs of smoking
• Local data

Smoking: adults

According to data published by the Office for National Statistics and taken from the Annual Population Survey (APS), in 2025, around 9.8% of people aged 18 years and over in the UK were current smokers. This is the lowest reported figure since the APS data collection started in 2011, when an estimated 20.2% of adults smoked.

The smoking rate was highest in Scotland in 2025, at 11.4%, and lowest in England, at 9.5%.  Smoking rates have fallen in all countries of the UK since 2011. The largest decline was in Scotland, where rates fell from 23.4% in 2011 to 11.4% in 2025.

The chart below shows the prevalence of smoking by UK country from 2011 to 2025.

Source: ONS, Adult smoking habits in the UK: 2025, 6 October 2025

Demographics

Men are more likely to smoke than women in the UK; in 2025, 11.3% of men said that they were current smokers, compared to 8.2% of women.

Smoking prevalence was highest overall amongst people aged between 45 and 54 years old (12.4%), and lowest amongst people aged 18 to 24 and 65 and older (both 7.2%).

The chart below shows smoking prevalence by age and sex in the UK.

Source: ONS, Adult smoking habits in the UK: 2025, 6 October 2025

In 2025, smoking was more prevalent among:

• People who were unemployed (16.5%) compared with those who were employed (8.7%) or economically inactive (11.1%)
• People with a “routine and manual” occupational group (16.9%) compared with other occupational groups, particularly “managerial and professional occupations” (5.9%)
• People who were single (13.4%) or widowed, divorced or separated (13.0%) compared with those who were married or in a civil partnership (6.3%)
• Those who had no educational qualifications (24.8%) compared with people with qualifications, particularly with a degree or equivalent (4.7%)
• Social renters (23.2%) compared with other tenure groups, particularly people who own with a mortgage (6.3%) and own outright (5.9%)

Smoking during pregnancy

NHS England data on Smoking Status at Time of Delivery shows that in 2025/26, 4.2% of mothers were recorded as smokers at the time of delivery. When recording began in 2006/07, 15.8% of mothers smoked at the time of delivery, although the methodology has changed and these figures are not directly comparable.

Smoking by region

In 2024, smoking prevalence was highest in Yorkshire and the Humber (11.3%) and the North West (10.3%) and lowest in London (8.4%) and the South East (8.7%).

Smoking: young people

The Smoking, Drinking and Drug Use among Young People in England publication provides data on smoking among school pupils in England based on a survey. The survey runs every two years; the most recent available data is for 2023.

In 2023, 11% of pupils aged 11-15 had ever smoked, and 1% described themselves as regular smokers. 

6% of pupils aged 11, 9% of pupils aged 13, and 22% of pupils aged 15% said that they had ever tried smoking.   Boys were slightly more likely than girls to be regular smokers. Girls were slightly more likely to have ever tried smoking.

The chart below shows the decline in regular smoking amongst school pupils from 2000 to 2023.

Source: NHS Digital, Smoking, Drinking and Drug Use among Young People in England, 2023, 17 October 2024  

Vaping

According to data from the Opinions and Lifestyle Survey, in 2025, around 6.5% of people aged 16 and over in Great Britain reported that they vaped (used an e-cigarette) daily. A further 3.4% reported that they vaped occasionally.

The proportion of people reporting daily or occasional vaping was highest among current smokers (33.8%) and ex-smokers (20.7%) compared with those who have never smoked (2.9%). This means that around 1.1 million people in Britain who have never smoked now vape.

16-24 year olds were more likely to report daily or occasional vaping than all other age groups. The chart below shows the proportion of people who vaped (daily and occasionally) in 2025.

Source: ONS, Adult smoking habits in the UK: 2025, 6 October 2025

As above, the most recent available data on vaping among young people is from 2023.

In 2023, 5% of children aged 11-15 said that they vaped regularly and a further 4% said that they vaped occasionally. 25% said that they had ever vaped.

1% of pupils aged 11, 7% of pupils aged 13, and 19% of pupils aged 15 said that they vaped either regularly or occasionally.  

Hospital admissions and deaths due to smoking

Health is a devolved policy area; the statistics in this section relate only to England.

Hospital admissions

There have been no new estimates of smoking-related hospital admissions since 2022/23. NHS England says that “work by [the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities] is progressing on the introduction of the smoking related admissions” and that, when new estimates are produced, they will be available through Fingertips.

NHS hospital episode statistics for England show that in 2022/23 (the most recent available data), there were an estimated 408,700 hospital admissions due to smoking amongst adults aged 35 and over. This was up 4.8% on 2021/22.  

This included 163,100 hospital admissions for cancers attributable to smoking, 99,800 for respiratory diseases, and 63,600 for cardiovascular diseases.  

Deaths

According to analysis of ONS mortality data by the Office for Health Disparities and Improvements, there were approximately 184,300 deaths attributable to smoking amongst people aged over 35 in England between 2022 and 2024. This included 78,400 deaths from cancer and 27,300 deaths from heart disease.

Approximately 12% of deaths in England between 2022 and 2024 were attributable to smoking.

Costs of smoking

There is no clear consensus on the costs of smoking to the UK economy. Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) estimated in 2024 that smoking in England costs £21.8 billion per year in health and social care costs and lost productivity. A wider ASH estimate put the cost of smoking in England at £43.7 billion per year, including £27.6 billion in lost productivity.

The Treasury does receives tax income because of smoking, which these estimates do not account for. Provisional HMRC estimates for 2025/26 show total tobacco tax receipts of £7.6 billion, including £5.7 billion from cigarettes. The remaining receipts were from cigars, hand-rolled tobacco, and other tobacco products.  

Local data

The map below shows the proportion of people aged 18 and over who smoked by local authority in England in 2025.

Source: Department of Health and Social Care, Smoking Profile, via Fingertips