Smoking is the biggest cause of cancer in the world, and accounts for 15% of UK cancers. In addition, 37% of all deaths for respiratory diseases, and 26% of all deaths for cancers, are attributable to smoking in England, NHS Digital reported in July 2018.

Tobacco is also behind a significant proportion of deaths from digestive system and circulatory diseases.3,4,5

The number of deaths attributable to smoking has been falling, but tobacco was still implicated in 77,900 deaths in England in 2016 (16% of all deaths), down 7% since 2006.5

Smokers see their GP 35% more often than non-smokers. The Office of National Statistics survey into adult smoking habits in 2017 found that only 26% of current smokers reported being in very good health, compared to 42% of those who had never smoked. In addition, 11% of current smokers reported being in bad or very bad health, compared to 5% of those who had never smoked.6,7,8

Smoking-related hospital admissions continue to grow, with around 484,700 admissions in England in 2016-17, up 2% on 2015-16. Among admissions attributable to smoking, 22% were for respiratory diseases, 15% were for circulatory diseases, and 9% were for cancers.

It means caring for smokers costs the NHS around £2.5 billion, with another £1.4 billion cost to social services, while £8.6 billion is lost from productivity.5,6