Summary
Smoking is the leading cause of premature, preventable death globally. Tobacco kills up to half of its users, this equates to 8 million deaths a year globally. More than 7 million of those deaths are the result of direct tobacco use while around 1.2 million are the result of non-smokers being exposed to second-hand smoke. Around 80% of the world's 1.3 billion smokers live in low- and middle-income countries.
In the UK, in 2023, 11.9% of adults smoke; 13.7% of men and 10.1% of women, which equates to around 6.0 million people in the population.
In 2023, adult smoking rates by each country in the UK were:
- England: 11.6%
- Wales: 12.6%
- Scotland: 13.5%
- Northern Ireland: 13.3%
Since 2011, the largest fall in smoking prevalence has been among 18- to 34-year-olds. However, those aged 25 to 34 years have the highest proportion of current smokers (14.0%).