Adult smoking rates

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 (08/09 results published August 2010) aims to give early detection of national trends.:

• just over 24 per cent of adults smoked in 2009. 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 (41 per cent and 21 per cent respectively).

The Scottish Health Survey (to date conducted in 1995, 1998, 2003 and 2008 results published in 1997, 2000, 2005 and 2009 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. 

Men

• 26% of men in Scotland smoke
  Source: The Scottish Government. 2008/2009 Scottish Household Survey [online] Available from: www.scotland.gov.uk/Resource/Doc/322178/0103563.pdf [accessed  24 August  2010]
• 33% of men in Scotland aged 25-34 years old smoke
  2008/2009 Scottish Household Survey [online] Available from: www.scotland.gov.uk/Resource/Doc/322178/0103563.pdf [accessed  24 August  2010]
  
• 34% of men in Scotland who smoke, smoke 20 or more cigarettes a day
  Source: The Scottish Government. Scottish health survey - 2008 [online] 2009. Available from: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2009/09/28102003/0 [accessed 6 January 2010]
• 24% of men in Scotland  who smoke, smoke less than 10 cigarettes a day
  Source: The Scottish Government. Scottish health survey - 2008 [online] 2009. Available from: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2009/09/28102003/0 [accessed 6 January 2010]
• 33% 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, 2008/09 [online]  2009.  Available from: http://www.statistics.gov.uk/downloads/theme_health/smoking2008-9.pdf [accessed 6 January 2010]
• 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

• 23% of women in Scotland smoke
  2008/2009 Scottish Household Survey [online] Available from: www.scotland.gov.uk/Resource/Doc/322178/0103563.pdf [accessed  24 August  2010]
• 24% of women in Scotland aged 25-34 years old smoke
  2008/2009 Scottish Household Survey [online] Available from: www.scotland.gov.uk/Resource/Doc/322178/0103563.pdf [accessed  24 August  2010]
• 28% of women in Scotland who smoke, smoke 20 or more cigarettes a day
  Source: The Scottish Government. Scottish health survey - 2008 [online] 2009. Available from: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2009/09/28102003/0 [accessed 6 January 2010]
• 30% of women in Scotland who smoke, smoke less than 10 cigarettes a day
  Source: The Scottish Government. Scottish health survey - 2008 [online] 2009. Available from: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2009/09/28102003/0 [accessed 6 January 2010]
• 24% 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, 2008/09 [online]  2009.  Available from: http://www.statistics.gov.uk/downloads/theme_health/smoking2008-9.pdf [accessed 6 January 2010]
• 36% 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, 2008/09 [online]  2009.  Available from: http://www.statistics.gov.uk/downloads/theme_health/smoking2008-9.pdf [accessed 6 January 2010]    
  

Pregnancy and New Mothers

• 20.8% of pregnant women in Scotland smoke at booking
  Source: ISD Scotland. Births and babies. [online] 2009. Available from: http://www.isdscotland.org/isd/2911.html [accessed 6 January 2010]
• 20.0% of mothers in Scotland smoked at the health visitor’s first visit
  Source: ISD Scotland. Births and babies. [online] 2009. Available from: http://www.isdscotland.org/isd/2911.html [accessed 6 January 2010]  
   

Social Inequalities

Adults

• 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 (41 per cent and 21 per cent respectively).
  2008/2009 Scottish Household Survey [online] Available from: www.scotland.gov.uk/Resource/Doc/322178/0103563.pdf [accessed  24 August  2010]]
• The proportion of adults who smoke declines steadily as deprivation declines, from 45% in the most deprived 10% of areas to just 11% in the least deprived 10%.
  Source: The Scottish Government. Scotland's people - annual report: results from 2007/2008 Scottish Household Survey [online] Available from: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2008/08/07100738/0 [accessed  6 January 2010]

UK comparisons

(*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])