Public Health England wants the NHS long-term plan to commit to achieving a ‘smoke-free society’ by 2030 with an adult prevalence of 5% or less.6

Smoking prevalence is declining, down from 19.8% of adults in 2011 to 14.9% in 2017, with 17% of men and 13% of women reporting that they smoke. Younger people are more likely to smoke (20% of 25-34 year olds compared to 8% of people aged 65 or older) but prevalence has fallen most among younger people since 2011, down almost 8% for 18-24 year olds.8

Socioeconomic status data indicates that routine and manual workers are most likely to smoke (26%) compared to 10% of people in managerial and professional occupations. ONS data also indicates that 29% of unemployed people reported being a smoker, compared to 15% of employed adults.

Worryingly, data from 2017-18 indicates that 10.8% of pregnant women were smokers at the time of delivery, significantly higher than the national ambition of 6% or less.