The proportion of current smokers in the UK stood at 9.8 per cent last year, according to ONS figures – down from 10.6 per cent in 2024 and the first time it has fallen below 10 per cent.
The proportion of current e-cigarette users remains higher than current smokers, at 5.4m to 4.8m, with the number of e-cigarette users overtaking cigarette smokers for the first time in 2024. The highest proportion of current smokers is in the 45-54 age group, with 18-24-year-olds and people over 65 years the least likely to smoke. Smoking prevalence in all four nations of the UK has fallen since 2024 and currently stands at 11.4 per cent in Scotland, 11.1 per cent in Wales, 9.9 per cent in Northern Ireland and 9.5 per cent in England.
Smoking rates remain closely linked to deprivation – the local authorities with the highest prevalence of current smokers in the five years to 2025 were Fenland, Blackpool and Kingston upon Hull, all at just under 18 per cent. People classed as unemployed were the most likely to smoke, at 16.5 per cent, double the rate of those in paid employment. ‘Routine and manual’ occupations have the highest percentage of current smokers, at nearly 17 per cent.
However, 1.1m people who had never smoked reported using an e-cigarette daily or occasionally, up from 940,000 in 2024. The proportion of people who have never smoked but now vape has nearly doubled since 2021.
Meanwhile, an open letter from health professionals is urging the government to ‘stand firm in the face of industry campaigns’ against new regulations to tighten the rules on the packaging and display of vapes and other nicotine products. ‘Industries that profit from tobacco and nicotine are campaigning hard against these regulations, but hundreds of health and education professionals are urging ministers to stand firm,’ said ASH chief executive Hazel Cheeseman. ‘Vapes can help adults quit smoking, but they don’t need brightly coloured packaging or prominent displays. We can protect children from marketing while keeping vapes accessible to adults who smoke.’
The tobacco and vapes bill, which aims to create a ‘smokefree generation’ phasing out the legal sale of tobacco to anyone born after January 2009, passed into law earlier this year.
The ONS statistics are taken from the Opinions and Lifestyle Survey (OPN) and Annual Population Survey (APS).
Adult smoking habits in the UK: 2025 available here
Smoking profile: statistical commentary, October 2026 available here
Open letter available here
Â