Smoking facts and figures
- About 10 million adults in the UK smoke cigarettes – about 25 per cent of men and 23 per cent of women. In 1974, 51 per cent of men and 41 per cent of women smoked cigarettes. The decline in recent years has been most concentrated in older age groups, meaning that young people are taking up smoking as older smokers quit
- Smoking is highest among people aged 20 to 24: 34 per cent of men and 30% women in this age group smoke. Among older age groups, the proportion gradually declines. The lowest smoking rate is among people aged 60 and over: 15 per cent
- Men and women in the unskilled manual socio-economic group are more likely to smoke than people in the professional group. Twenty per cent of men and 18 per cent of women in the professional group smoke, compared with 34 per cent of men and 31 per cent of women in the unskilled manual group
- Every year, around 114,000 smokers in the UK die as a result of their habit
- Smoking kills around six times more people in the UK than road traffic accidents (3,439), other accidents (8,579), poisoning and overdose (3,157), murder and manslaughter (513), suicide (4,066) and HIV infection (234) all put together (22,833 – 2002 figures)
- Smoking causes 30 per cent of all cancer deaths (including at least 84 per cent of lung cancer deaths), 17 per cent of all heart disease deaths and at least 80 per cent of deaths from bronchitis and emphysema
- Stopping smoking reduces this risk – if you stop before you are 35, your health risks can be reduced to the same as those of a lifelong non-smoker
- People do give up – 21 per cent of women and 27 per cent of men are ex-smokers. Surveys show that about 70 per cent of current smokers would like to give up altogether