Response to new ONS figures on adult smoking habits

Responding to latest ONS figures on adult smoking habits, which show that the proportion of the adult population in the UK who smoke cigarettes fell to 10.6 per cent (5.3 million) in 2024, Simon Clark, director of the smokers’ rights group Forest, said:

“Smoking rates have been falling for decades, largely because people have been educated about the health risks.

“More recently, products such as vapes and nicotine pouches have provided reduced risk alternatives to cigarettes, encouraging millions of smokers to switch and quit voluntarily.

“In contrast, there is no evidence that anti-smoking measures such as smoking bans, plain packaging, or the ban on menthol cigarettes have been significant factors in reducing smoking rates.”

Warning the government not to raise the age of sale of tobacco to drive smoking rates lower, Clark added:

“A generational ban on the sale of tobacco could stall or even reverse the long-term decline in smoking rates.

“Far from achieving the government’s ambition of a smoke-free Britain, prohibiting the sale of tobacco to future generations of adults will fuel the black market and could encourage more people to smoke as a form of soft rebellion.

“People are fed up of government dictating how they live their lives, and further intervention could do more harm than good.”