Smoking rates - adults (16+)

Surveys

Surveys vary in their methodology, sample size, and in the age ranges they cover, and their results may not be directly comparable.

The Scottish Household Survey (09/10 results published August 2011) aims to give early detection of national trends.:

  • 24.2 per cent of adults smoked in 2009/10. Since its introduction in 1999 the SHS has charted a general downwards trend in the proportion of adults who smoke. The 2009 proportion is a 5.5 percentage point reduction on 1999. The percentage of adults who smoke is one of the Government's national performance indicators, with the aim of reducing the percentage of the adult population who smoke to 22 per cent by 2010
  • typically, more men than women smoke (26 per cent and 23 per cent respectively). Younger men more commonly smoke than younger women, with the gap widest (eight percentage points) between the ages of 25 and 34 years
  • adults in the 15 per cent most deprived areas of Scotland are considerably more likely than those in the rest of Scotland to say that they are current smokers (42 per cent and 21 per cent respectively). Less than one in ten adults living in the 10% least deprived areas of Scotland smoke, compared to 44% in the most deprived areas.

The Scottish Health Survey offers the most robust statistical analysis of adult smoking rates in Scotland based on sample size. It is restricted to the age range 16-74.

The ONS General Household Survey data gives a longer timescale for identifying trends, and allows for a comparison with overall smoking prevalence in Great Britain.

Men

  • 26% of men in Scotland smoke
    Source: The Scottish Government. 2009/2010 Scottish Household Survey [online] Available from: www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2011/08/17093111/11 [accessed  18 August  2011]
  • 34% of men in Scotland aged 25-34 years old smoke
    Source: The Scottish Government. 2009/2010 Scottish Household Survey [online]
    Available from: www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2011/08/17093111/11 [accessed  18 August  2011]
  • in 2010, 25% of all adults aged 16 and over were current smokers. Smoking rates were almost identical between men (26%) and women (25%), although female smokers smoked fewer cigarettes per day than male smokers (13.1 compared with 14.8, respectively)
  • rates of smoking among adults aged 16-64 declined between 1995 and 2010, from 35% to 28%. However, smoking prevalence has not significantly changed since 2008
  • over the same period, the proportion of adults aged 16-64 who say they have never smoked regularly has increased, from 49% in 1995 to 54% in 2010. Available from: Scottish Government Health Survey - 2010 http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2011/09/27084018/32 [accessed 27 September 2011]
  • 29% of men across the United Kindgdom who smoke, smoke less than 10 cigarettes a day
    Source: Office for National Statistics. Smoking-related behaviour and attitudes, 2008/09 [online]  2009.  Available from: http://www.statistics.gov.uk/downloads/theme_health/smoking2008-9.pdf [accessed 6 January 2010]

Women

Pregnancy and new mothers

  • 'The overall percentage of women who report smoking at the time of their first antenatal booking has decreased consistently from 29.0% in 1995 to a new low of 18.1% in 2009. However, it should be noted that the percentage of 'unknowns' has risen from 5% in 1995 to 14.3% in 2009 and that this may include a proportion of smokers. There is known to be considerable under-reporting of smoking by pregnant women themselves.'
    Source: ISD Scotland, Births, Statistical Publication Notice, 31 August 2010 0[online]. Available from: www.isdscotlandarchive.scot.nhs.uk/isd/6364.html
    [accessed 13 July 2011]
  • 19.5% of mothers in Scotland smoked at the health visitor’s first visit
    Source: ISD Scotland, Births in Scottish Hospitals 2008/9
    Available from: www.isdscotland.org/Health-Topics/Maternity-and-Births/Births/
    [accessed 13 July 2011]
  • 29.4% of pregnant women in the most deprived SIMD quintile smoke at booking, compared to 5.8% in the least deprived SIMD quintile.
    Available from: www.isdscotland.org/Health-Topics/Maternity-and-Births/Births/
    [accessed 13 July 2011]

Social inequalities

  • adults in the 15 per cent most deprived areas of Scotland are considerably more likely than those in the rest of Scotland to say that they are current smokers (42 per cent and 21 per cent respectively)
  • less than one in ten adults living in the 10% least deprived areas of Scotland smoke, compared to 44% in the most deprived areas
    Source: The Scottish Government. 2009/2010 Scottish Household Survey Available from: www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2011/08/17093111/11 [accessed  18 August  2011]

Historical UK comparisons

Percentage of Adults smoking in Great Britain and Scotland
Year
1978
1990
1992
1994
1996
1998*
2000*
2001*
 2002*
Great Britain
40
30
28
27
28
28
27
27
26
Scotland
45
34
34
30
32
31
30
31
28
Gender breakdown of adult smoking figures for Scotland
Men
48
33
34
31
33
35
30
32
29
Women
42
35
34
29
31
29
30
30
28

(*figures for 1998-2002 are weighted data)

(Source: National Statistics 2004. Living in Britain: Results from the 2002 General Household Survey. Chapter 8. [online] The Stationery Office: London. Available from: http://www.statistics.gov.uk/lib2002/downloads/smoking.pdf [accessed 21 June 2005])