Smoking prevalence in England has fallen to 14.9%, compared to 15.5% last year, bringing the estimated number of smokers down to 6.1 million.

In the last five years, smoking rates are down by almost a quarter (from 19.3%) but large inequalities still remain. One in four people in routine and manual occupations is a smoker compared to one in 10 in managerial and professional posts.

There are also large geographical differences; Blackpool, Hastings and Kingston upon Hull continue to be among the highest smoking areas with around 22-23% of adults smoking.

The number of vapers in England appears to have levelled off at just under 2.5 million. Most (51%) have stopped smoking and of the 45% who still smoke, half say that they are vaping in order to stop smoking. What is more, the number who have quit both smoking and quit vaping has reached 770,000.

Adult Smoking Habits in the UK: 2017¹ was published in July by Public Health England and the Office of National Statistics.

Reference
¹ https://www.ons.gov.uk/releases/adultsmokinghabitsintheuk2017