Statistics on Smoking - England, 2006

Note: The overall number of observed admissions among those aged 35 and over (including those not attributable to smoking), have been revised due to coding errors discovered since the bulletin was originally published in 2006. The revision affects the overall observed admissions for each disease group and the total for all diseases. The attributable percentage for respiratory diseases has also been revised as a result of these corrections, although in most cases this does not change the rounded figure.

• In England in 2004, smoking prevalence for adults was 25 per cent (26 per cent of men and 23 per cent of women). There was a decrease in smoking prevalence from 39 per cent in 1980 to 26 per cent in 1994, rising to 28 per cent in 1998. Prevalence has been steadily falling since then
• The decrease in smoking prevalence has been more marked for older people; of those aged 50-59 prevalence decreased from 44 per cent in 1980 to 24 per cent in 2004
• The proportion of adults who smoke hand-rolled cigarettes has increased from 10 per cent in 1984 to 24 per cent in 2004
• Almost two-fifths (39 per cent) of adults who were current or ex-regular smokers started smoking before the age of 16
• In England in 2005, 9 per cent of children aged 11-15 reported that they were regular smokers. This figure fluctuated between 1982 and 1998 but since 1999, levels have remained steady at between 9 per cent and 10 per cent
• Girls aged 11-15 are more likely than boys to be regular smokers; 10 per cent compared with 7 per cent. Older pupils are also more likely to smoke regularly; 20 per cent of 15-year-olds compared to 1 per cent of pupils aged 11
• In England in 2005, 32 per cent of mothers reported smoking in the 12 months before or during pregnancy. Seventeen per cent of mothers continued to smoke throughout pregnancy, whilst 49 per cent of smoking mothers gave up before or during pregnancy
• In Great Britain in 2005, 72 per cent of current smokers aged 16 and over reported that they wanted to give up smoking, with health reasons being the most common reason given for wanting to stop
• Support for smoking restrictions in public places was high; 91 per cent of adults favoured restrictions in restaurants, 86 per cent at work and 65 per cent in pubs
• In England in 2004/05 there were approximately 1.4 million NHS hospital admissions with a primary diagnosis of a disease that can be related to smoking. This has increased from around 1.1 million admissions in 1995/96
• There were over 9 million hospital admissions of adults aged 35 and over in England in 2004/05. Over half a million (559,800) of these admissions are estimated to be attributable to smoking
• In England and Wales in 2004, there were a total of 500,755 deaths of adults aged 35 and over. An estimated 88,800 (18 per cent) of these were caused by smoking, with a larger proportion of men (23 per cent) estimated to die than women (13 per cent) from smoking- related diseases.