Proportion of Current Smokers, All Persons Aged 18 and Over, UK, 2011-2017

Using Annual Population Survey (APS) data provided by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), this graphic shows the continued declining trend between 2010 and 2017 in each of the four UK countries (England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland). Overall smoking prevalence in the UK in 2017 was 15.1 percent, which equates to around 7.4 million people in the population, a statistically significant decline of more than five percentage points since 2011. England had the lowest level of smoking at 14.9 percent (approximately 6.1 million people), Wales at 16.1 percent (approximately 386,000 people), Scotland 16.3 percent (approximately 677,000 people) and Northern Ireland the highest at 16.5 percent (approximately 226,000 people). Northern Ireland’s overall trend is down, but not as consistently as the other three countries.

See also p. 51 of the report: No Fire, No Smoke: The Global State of Tobacco Harm Reduction 2018 — Global State of Tobacco Harm Reduction (gsthr.org)