In England in 2022, 21 percent of men and 15 percent of women aged between 25 and 34 years were current smokers, this is the highest share of male and female smokers across the age groups. Across all age groups men either had a higher or equal share of smokers compared to females. Situation north of the border In Scotland, the highest share of regular smokers is found in the age group between 45 to 64 years at 13 percent, followed by those aged between 16 and 44 years at 12 percent. In 2020, 11 percent of men and eight percent of women overall in Scotland were current smokers. Dangers of smoking  Over 1.9 million admissions to NHS hospitals in England in the financial year 2019/20 were caused by smoking. The number of admissions as a result of smoking has been creeping upwards since 2000. Consequently, the number of admissions due to cancers caused by smoking in England has increased since the year 2000, reaching almost 381 thousand in 2019/20. 

This report contains results from the latest survey of secondary school pupils in England in years 7 to 11 (mostly aged 11 to 15), focusing on smoking, drinking and drug use. It covers a range of topics including prevalence, habits, attitudes, and wellbeing. This survey is usually run every two years, however, due to the impact that the Covid pandemic had on school opening and attendance, it was not possible to run the survey as initially planned in 2020; instead it was delivered in the 2021 school year. In 2021 additional questions were also included relating to the impact of Covid. They covered how pupil's took part in school learning in the last school year (September 2020 to July 2021), and how often pupil's met other people outside of school and home. Results of analysis covering these questions have been presented within parts of the report and associated data tables. It includes this summary report showing key findings, excel tables with more detailed outcomes, technical appendices and a data quality statement. An anonymised record level file of the underlying data on which users can carry out their own analysis will be made available via the UK Data Service later in 2022 (see link below).

This statistic illustrates the average weekly household expenditure on cigarettes in the United Kingdom (UK) in 2017/18, by age of household reference person. Respondents with a household reference person aged 50 to 64 spent an average of *** British pounds a week on cigarettes.

The share of individuals who currently smoke cigarettes, cigars, cigarillos or a pipe in Greece was around 42 percent in 2020, which makes the Mediterranean country have the highest proportion of smokers in the EU.

Tobacco taxation

In an effort to reduce smoking prevalence among the populace, governments across Europe impose ever-higher tax rates on tobacco, making cigarettes much more expensive for consumers to purchase and hence, compelling them to reduce their consumption. For instance, Finland had the highest cigarette excise tax rate in 2019 at around 68 percent. Other countries like the Netherlands and Germany impose a slightly lower tax rate of 54 and 52 percent, respectively. The German government generated approximately 14.7 billion euros in revenues from tobacco taxation in 2020. With tobacco taxes making up the lion’s share of the price of a pack of cigarettes, European governments hope this will trigger a significant reduction in consumer demand.

To what extent did higher taxes contribute to reducing cigarette consumption in Europe?

With rising tobacco taxation across the European continent in the last years (albeit in varying rates), cigarette consumers have either quit smoking, reduced their intake or switched to e-cigarettes and non-combustible tobacco alternatives. In fact, only 28 percent of individuals consume tobacco in France today, a country once notorious for its prevalent tobacco consumption. This trend has been reflected over the years with a significant drop in the volume of cigarettes annually sold in France: In 2005, more than 54,000 tons of cigarettes were sold, but that figure dropped to nearly 36,000 tons by 2020. During the same time period, the price of the most sold brand of cigarettes in France more than tripled.

Contains tabulated outputs on each topic from the Health Survey for England 2018

The price of cigarettes in the United Kingdom has substantially increased each year since 2000. In 2022, the average retail price of a 20 pack of cigarettes was 12.61 British pounds.

Cigarette taxes

As of 2022, the most expensive country in which to purchase cigarettes in Europe was Ireland, with the UK in second place. Cigarette prices across Europe are driven by the respective taxes imposed within each of the member states and consist of a specific duty per thousand cigarettes and an ad valorem rate onto the recommended retail price, in addition to value added tax (VAT). Thus, the highest rates of taxation are reflected in the retail prices. Governments that impose such strong barriers to the purchasing of tobacco are considered 'nanny states', with high levels of control on other factors, such as advertising, bans of tobacco products on retail displays and graphic warnings on cigarette packs.

UK tobacco industry

The sales of tobacco in the UK has generally been decreasing since 2005. As of 2022, the annual expenditure was at about 21.3 billion British pounds, marking an overall decrease of over 40 percent compared to expenditure in 2005. However, despite the high taxes in the UK and the decrease in expenditure, the revenue of the tobacco industry is expected to grow in coming years. By 2027, the tobacco products market is forecast to have a revenue of about 25.6 billion British pounds.

This statistic displays the share of cannabis users in the last year in England and Wales as of 2018. In that year, the highest amount of users was observed in the age group 15 to 24 years a **** percent, while the age group with the lowest use was 55 to 64 years at *** percent.

In 2023/24, **** percent of people in England and Wales aged between 16 and 59 had used cannabis at least once during their lifetime, compared with **** percent in 2001/02.