Statistics on Smoking - England , 2018 [PAS]

This part presents information about behaviour and attitudes towards smoking, and includes:

- NHS Stop Smoking Services information on quit attempts and successful quit rates. The latest annual data is for 2016/17. 2017/18 data is expected to be published in August 2018.

- Young people’s (secondary school pupils aged 11 to 15) attitudes towards smoking, taken from the Smoking, Drinking and Drug Use among Young People survey (SDD) 2016.

Quit attempts / success rates, by year

Quit attempts at NHS Stop Smoking Services have declined in recent years. Anecdotal evidence suggests this may be due to an increase in people using e-cigarettes to help them stop smoking rather than making use of these services.

The self-reported quit rate for 2016/17 was 51%, which has remained fairly stable in recent years.

Quit rate by Local Authority¹

Successful quit rates ranged from above 75% in Bracknell Forest, Redbridge, Isles of Scilly and Kingston Upon Hull, to below 30% in Trafford, Cumbria and Barnet.

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^{1.  Bradford, Enfield and York did not provide any data. Manchester and Isle of Wight do not provide stop smoking services.}

Pupils’ attitudes towards smoking, by year

24% of pupils reported that it was OK to try a cigarette to see what it was like, and 9% reported that it was OK to smoke once a week.

Since these questions were first asked, there has been a general decline in positive attitudes towards smoking.

Pupils’ attitudes towards smoking by people of their same age, by age

Younger pupils were less likely to think that it was OK to try smoking to see what it was like; 5% of 11 year olds, compared with 47% of 15 year olds, or that it was OK to smoke once a week; 3% and 17% respectively.

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