Adults who smoke, UK and its nations
Official statistics, not accredited
Percentage of adults aged 18 and over who smoke cigarettes in the UK, England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland each year since 2011, from the ONS's Annual Population Survey.
United Kingdom
9.8%
2025
Verified against source, 31 October 2026, 11:19 UTC- United Kingdom
- England
- Wales
- Scotland
- Northern Ireland
Source: Office for National Statistics. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Data table
15 periods, newest first
| Period | United Kingdom | England | Wales | Scotland | Northern Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 9.8% | 9.5% | 11.1% | 11.4% | 9.9% |
| 2024 | 10.6% | 10.4% | 11.4% | 12.0% | 10.5% |
| 2023 | 11.1% | 10.9% | 11.8% | 12.6% | 12.5% |
| 2022 | 11.7% | 11.5% | 12.8% | 12.6% | 12.7% |
| 2021 | 12.3% | 12.1% | 13.1% | 13.8% | 12.7% |
| 2020 | 13.1% | 12.8% | 14.3% | 14.9% | 14.5% |
| 2019 | 14.1% | 13.9% | 15.5% | 15.4% | 15.6% |
| 2018 | 14.7% | 14.4% | 15.9% | 16.3% | 15.5% |
| 2017 | 15.1% | 14.9% | 16.1% | 16.3% | 16.5% |
| 2016 | 15.8% | 15.5% | 16.9% | 17.7% | 18.1% |
| 2015 | 17.2% | 16.9% | 18.1% | 19.1% | 19.0% |
| 2014 | 18.1% | 17.8% | 19.4% | 20.3% | 18.0% |
| 2013 | 18.8% | 18.4% | 20.2% | 21.5% | 18.5% |
| 2012 | 19.6% | 19.3% | 21.0% | 21.7% | 19.2% |
| 2011 | 20.2% | 19.8% | 22.3% | 23.4% | 18.9% |
Source and licence
- Publisher
- Office for National Statistics
- Check it yourself
- https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/healthandsocialcare/healthandlifeexpectancies/datasets/smokinghabitsintheukanditsconstituentcountries
- Licence
- Open Government Licence v3.0 – Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
- Retrieved
- 31 October 2026, 11:13 UTC
- Raw files fetched
- https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/healthandsocialcare/healthandlifeexpectancies/datasets/smokinghabitsintheukanditsconstituentcountries/dataSHA-256 0be2d779356b208afad29764070c0b884ef12940aa77fdc3822abbc24665f136 · 3,193 bytes
- https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/healthandsocialcare/healthandlifeexpectancies/datasets/smokinghabitsintheukanditsconstituentcountries/2025/dataSHA-256 218cab97f03371ab86e940f776bd9b5e4ff9ef6aef8ca6a3974d1f63f30e5246 · 417 bytes
- https://www.ons.gov.uk/file?uri=/peoplepopulationandcommunity/healthandsocialcare/healthandlifeexpectancies/datasets/smokinghabitsintheukanditsconstituentcountries/2025/smokinghabitsintheukanditsconstituentcountries202609221121.xlsxSHA-256 bada384b88cb19aa79b8a0196e1c03f0002a5230f03d096477d161b005ef8fa1 · 2,868,480 bytes
Verification
Verified against source, 31 October 2026, 11:19 UTC Run at 31 October 2026, 11:19 UTC; 75 of 75 figures matched the live source.
| Result | Check | Detail |
|---|---|---|
| Pass | Provenance recorded | Office for National Statistics; Open Government Licence v3.0; retrieved 2026-10-31T11:13:08Z; 3 raw file(s) |
| Pass | Raw files match recorded SHA-256 | 3 of 3 files intact |
| Pass | Re-parsing raw files reproduces figures | 75 of 75 figures and the headline reproduced |
| Pass | Figures are finite numbers | 75 figures, 0 invalid |
| Pass | Live source matches every figure | 75 of 75 figures match exactly after downloading 3 source file(s) again (3 byte-identical); the headline matches |
| Pass | ONS edition is current | the 2025 edition counts at 2025-12-31, 304 days before retrieval (limit 730) |
| Pass | Previous edition agrees | 70 of 70 figures match Table_1 of the previous edition, https://www.ons.gov.uk/file?uri=/peoplepopulationandcommunity/healthandsocialcare/healthandlifeexpectancies/datasets/smokinghabitsintheukanditsconstituentcountries/2024/smokinghabitsintheukanditsconstituentcountries2024v3.xlsx |
| Pass | OHID's Fingertips agrees for England | 15 of 15 figures match England's persons aged 18 and over in Fingertips indicator 92443 (https://fingertips.phe.org.uk/api/all_data/csv/by_indicator_id?indicator_ids=92443&child_area_type_id=15&parent_area_type_id=15), to one decimal place rounded half up |
| Not run | Source page answers | https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/healthandsocialcare/healthandlifeexpectancies/datasets/smokinghabitsintheukanditsconstituentcountries refuses automated requests (rate limiting, HTTP 429); open it in a browser to compare |
Notes
- From a UK-wide survey, so the four nations are measured the same way. The devolved governments' own health surveys give their official measures of smoking, which differ from these.
- The ONS suspended the accreditation of every Annual Population Survey statistic in October 2024. The survey moved from face-to-face to telephone interviews in 2020, so the figures either side of that may not be comparable.