UK smoking incidence falls

The incidence of smoking among UK adults fell ‘significantly’ between 2016 and 2017, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
ONS figures, released yesterday in the Statistical bulletin: Adult smoking habits in the UK: 2017, indicate that the incidence of adult smoking in the UK stood at 15.1 percent last year, which equates to about 7.4 million people (based on an ONS estimate from figures in the Annual Population Survey), down from 15.8 percent in 2016.
The incidence of adult smoking in the UK’s constituent countries stood at 16.5 percent, equating to about 226,000 people, in Northern Ireland; at 16.3 percent, equating to about 677,000 people, in Scotland; at 16.1 percent, equating to 386,000 people, in Wales; and 14.9 percent, equating to about 6.1 million people, in England.
‘Since 2011, there has been a statistically significant decline in the proportion of current smokers in England, Scotland and Wales,’ the ONS reported. ‘For Northern Ireland, the estimate over time has been more variable due to the smaller sample size.’
Meanwhile, in the UK, 17.0 percent of men and 13.3 percent of women smoked in 2017.
The highest proportion of smokers, 19.7 percent, was among those 25-34 years of age.
About 25.9 percent of people in routine and manual jobs, and about 10.2 percent of those in managerial and professional occupations smoked.
In Great Britain (England, Scotland and Wales), 60.8 percent of smokers aged 16 years and above said they wanted to quit, and 59.5 percent of those who had ever smoked said they had quit, based on ONS estimates from the Opinions and Lifestyle Survey.
Also in Great Britain, 5.5 percent of people in 2017 said they used e-cigarettes, which equates to about 2.8 million adults.
Commenting on the ONS figures, Simon Clark, director of the smokers’ group Forest, said that far from being a public health success story, the recent decline in smoking rates represented a victory for the bully state.
“Instead of focussing on education, successive governments have chosen to denormalise a legitimate habit,” he said. “Punitive taxation and smoking bans discriminate against millions of ordinary decent people.
“Despite this a significant number of adults continue to smoke because they enjoy it. Government must respect their choice and stop harassing them to quit.”