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Adult smoking rates

Scotland has an estimated 1.4 million adult smokers.

(Source: ASH Scotland and HEBS 1998. A smoking cessation policy for Scotland. p.23 Edinburgh: The Health Education Board for Scotland.)

Smoking among adults has gradually declined from 30.4% in 1999 to 24.7% in 2007.
(Source: The Scottish Government 2008. Scottish Household Survey: Annual Report - Results from 2007. [online] Available from: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2008/08/07100738/0 [accessed 07 August 2008])

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 Health Survey (to date conducted in 1995, 1998 and 2003, results published in 1997, 2000 and 2005 respectively) 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.
The Scottish Household Survey (2006/07 results were published in August 2008) aims to give early detection of national trends and interviews 3,900 Scottish households each quarter.

Men

26% of men in Scotland smoke
(Source: The Scottish Government 2008. Scottish Household Survey: Annual Report - Results from 2007. [online] Available from: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2008/08/07100738/0 [accessed 07 August 2008])
33% of men in Scotland aged 16-24 years old smoke
(Source: The Scottish Government 2008. Scottish Household Survey: Annual Report - Results from 2007. [online] Available from: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2008/08/07100738/0 [accessed 07 August 2008])
38% of men in Scotland who smoke, smoke 20 or more cigarettes a day
(Source: The Scottish Executive. 2005. Scottish health survey - 2003 results. [online] Available from: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2005/11/25145024/50251 [accessed 10 January 2006]
20% of men in Scotland who smoke, smoke less than 10 cigarettes a day
(Source: The Scottish Executive. 2005. Scottish health survey - 2003 results. [online] Available from: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2005/11/25145024/50251 [accessed 10 January 2006]
25% of men across the United Kingdom who smoke, smoke 20 or more cigarettes a day
(Source: Office for National Statistics Smoking-related behaviour and attitudes, 2007 [online] Newport: Office for National Statistics. Available from: http://www.statistics.gov.uk/statbase/Product.asp?vlnk=1638 [accessed 18 June 2008])
33% 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, 2007 [online] Newport: Office for National Statistics. Available from: http://www.statistics.gov.uk/statbase/Product.asp?vlnk=1638 [accessed 18 June 2008])

Women

24% of women in Scotland smoke
(Source: The Scottish Government 2008. Scottish Household Survey: Annual Report - Results from 2007. [online] Available from: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2008/08/07100738/0 [accessed 07 August 2008])
28% of women in Scotland aged 25-34 years old smoke
(Source: The Scottish Government 2008. Scottish Household Survey: Annual Report - Results from 2007. [online] Available from: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2008/08/07100738/0 [accessed 07 August 2008])
33% of women in Scotland who smoke, smoke 20 or more cigarettes a day
(Source: The Scottish Executive. 2005. Scottish health survey - 2003 results. [online] Available from: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2005/11/25145024/50251 [accessed 10 January 2006]
23% of women in Scotland who smoke, smoke less than 10 cigarettes a day
(Source: The Scottish Executive. 2005. Scottish health survey - 2003 results. [online] Available from: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2005/11/25145024/50251 [accessed 10 January 2006])
23% of women across the United Kingdom who smoke, smoke 20 or more cigarettes a day
(Source: Office for National Statistics Smoking-related behaviour and attitudes, 2007 [online] Newport: Office for National Statistics. Available from: http://www.statistics.gov.uk/statbase/Product.asp?vlnk=1638 [accessed 18 June 2008])
32% of women across the United Kingdom who smoke, smoke less than 10 cigarettes a day
(Source: Office for National Statistics Smoking-related behaviour and attitudes, 2007 [online] Newport: Office for National Statistics. Available from: http://www.statistics.gov.uk/statbase/Product.asp?vlnk=1638 [accessed 18 June 2008])

Pregnancy and New Mothers

22.7% of women in Scotland are smoking when they are 3 months pregnant
(Source: ISD Scotland. 2006. Smoking at booking - Scotland. [online] Available from: http://www.isdscotland.org/isd/files/mat_bb_Smoking%20at%20Booking.xls [accessed 27 July 2006]
21.4% of mothers in Scotland smoked at the health visitor’s first visit
(Source: ISD Scotland. 2006. Smoking at health visitors first visit [online] Available from: http://www.isdscotland.org/isd/files/mat_bb_Smoking%20at%20First%20Visit.xls [accessed 27 July 2006]

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])

Social Inequalities

Men

50% of men in the lowest household income quintile smoke
(Source: The Scottish Executive. 2005. Scottish health survey - 2003 results. [online] Available from: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2005/11/25145024/50251 [accessed 10 January 2006]
16% of men in the highest household income quintile smoke
(Source: The Scottish Executive. 2005. Scottish health survey - 2003 results. [online] Available from: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2005/11/25145024/50251 [accessed 10 January 2006]

Women

45% of women in the lowest household income quintile smoke
(Source: The Scottish Executive. 2005. Scottish health survey - 2003 results. [online] Available from: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2005/11/25145024/50251[accessed 10 January 2006]
15% of women in the highest household income quintile smoke
(Source: The Scottish Executive. 2005. Scottish health survey - 2003 results. [online] Available from: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2005/11/25145024/50251 [accessed 10 January 2006]

Adults

40% of adults in the 15% most deprived areas of Scotland say thay are current smokers, compared to 22% in the rest of Scotland.
(Source: The Scottish Government 2008. Scottish Household Survey: Annual Report - Results from 2007. [online] Available from: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2008/08/07100738/0 [accessed 07 August 2008])

The proportion of adults who smoke declines steadily as deprivation declines, from 43% in the most deprived 10% of areas to just 12% in the least deprived 10%.
(Source: The Scottish Government 2008. Scottish Household Survey: Annual Report - Results from 2007. [online] Available from: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2008/08/07100738/0 [accessed 07 August 2008])

Prevalence of cigarette smoking by sex and socio-economic classification: 2001 to 2002, amongst persons aged 16 and over in the UK
	2001	2002
Men (percentage)
Managerial and professional	19	19
Intermediate	29	28
Routine and manual	36	33
Women (percentage)
Managerial and professional	18	19
Intermediate	23	22
Routine and manual	32	31