Cigarette smoking status in England 2021, by gender

In England in 2021, 62 percent of men and 68 percent of women said they never regularly smoked cigarettes, while 24 percent of men and 21 percent of women mentioned they used to smoke cigarettes regularly.

Smokers broken down by age

Across all age groups in England, males have a higher or equal share of smokers compared to females. In 2020, 22 percent of men and 15 percent of women aged between 25 and 34 years were current smokers, this is the highest share of male and female smokers across the age groups. While 11 percent of men aged between 16 and 24 years are classed as current smokers.

Dangers of smoking

  Almost two million admissions to NHS hospitals in England in the financial year 2019/20 were caused by smoking. The number of admissions as a result of smoking has been creeping upwards since 2000. Consequently, the number of admissions due to cancers caused by smoking in England has increased since the year 2000, reaching around 382 thousand in 2019/20.