Health Survey England Additional Analyses, Ethnicity and Health, 2011-2019 Experimental statistics

Smoking is estimated to be the leading cause of preventable illness and premature death in England. Nicotine contained in tobacco is highly addictive, and tobacco use is a major risk factor for cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, over 20 different types or sub-types of cancer, and many other debilitating health conditions.¹

Actions to reduce the prevalence of smoking have been laid out in the government’s Tobacco Control Plan, published in 2017.²

This analysis categorises participants in one of three ways:

• Current smokers, who answered yes to the question: ‘Do you smoke cigarettes at all nowadays?’
• Ex-regular smokers, who did not currently smoke but who reported that they had smoked cigarettes, and that they used to smoke regularly (at least once a day)
• Never regular smokers, who did not currently smoke, and had either smoked in the past, but only occasionally, or had never smoked cigarettes

Among adults in England between 2011 and 2019, men were more likely than women to report that they were cigarette smokers. In each year, between 18% and 24% of men and 15% and 19% of women reported that they smoked, with a slight downward trend across the period.³

The proportions of current smokers varied with ethnicity, between 11% and 32% for men and between 2% and 23% for women.

When age was taken into account, among men the prevalence of smoking was at similar levels for most groups; men from black African, Chinese and Indian backgrounds least likely to be smokers. The proportions of current smokers were highest among women from all white and mixed or multiple backgrounds and lowest among Indian, Pakistani, Chinese and black African women.⁴

The proportions of men who had never smoked regularly varied between 41% and 75%. Between 55% and 96% of women had never smoked.

Once age was taken into account, the proportions of men who had never smoked were highest among those from black African, Chinese, Indian, and Other backgrounds, lowest among those from white Irish and Other white backgrounds. Among women, the proportions who had never smoked regularly were similar across most groups, with the lowest proportions among women from all white and mixed or multiple backgrounds.⁵