Smoking in the United Kingdom (UK) - statistics & facts
At the end of 2024, a smoking ban was introduced in the UK, making buying cigarettes illegal for anyone currently aged 15 or under to ultimately create a smoke-free generation. This ban was aimed at tackling the detrimental effects of smoking, one of the UK’s leading causes of preventable death, attributing to around 80,000 deaths per year. In 2023, before the ban was enacted, about one percent of girls and boys aged between 11 and 15 declared themselves to be regular smokers, while two percent stated they smoked occasionally. As of 2022, 14 percent of men and 11 percent of women in England were smokers. This share was slightly higher in Scotland for both men and women.
