Economics

'Up in smoke' (November 2010)

This report from ASH Scotland demonstrates that, based on a conservative analysis, the societal costs of tobacco use amount to nearly £1.1 billion in Scotland. It adds to the existing literature examining the costs and benefits of tobacco production, sale and consumption. In this analysis we calculate that tobacco-attributable costs to society outstrip tobacco-specific duty attributed to in Scotland by some £129 million.

Up in smoke is consistent with evidence from other sources which demonstrate that, instead of being an easy revenue generator for the Exchequer, tobacco does not seem to pay its way in society due to the immense scale of harm it causes.

By contrast, effective interventions to reduce tobacco harm offer excellent value for money.

Download the report (pdf)

In Scotland during 2008/9:

• the proportion of tobacco duty attributable to spending in Scotland was £940 million

The costs of tobacco in Scotland each year:

• treating smoking attributable disease in the NHS costs £271 million
• productivity losses due to excess absenteeism, smoking breaks and lost output due to premature death cost £692 million
• premature deaths due to second-hand smoke exposure in the home cost £60 million in lost productivity
• clearing smoking-related litter from the streets costs £34 million
• fires caused by smoking in commercial properties cost £12 million
• average weekly family expenditure on cigarettes in Scotland was £4.90 per week in the period 2007 to 2009 compared with £3.70 in England.
  Source for family spending: Statistics on Smoking in England 2011, The Health and Social Care Information Centre.

Smoking costs, conservatively, around £1.1 billion to Scotland each year.

Resources and further reading on the economics of tobacco

All Party Parliamentary Group on Smoking and Health. Inquiry into the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of tobacco control: Submission to the 2010 Spending Review and Public Health White Paper Consultation process. 2010.

Reed, H. The effects of increasing tobacco taxation: a cost benefit and public
finances analysis. A report prepared for ASH by Landman Economics. 2009.

Parrott S, Godfrey C, Raw M. Costs of employee smoking in the workplace in Scotland. Tob Control. 2000 Jun;9(2):187-92.

Nash R. Featherstone H. Cough up: Balancing tobacco income and costs in society. Policy Exchange. March 2010.

Allender S, Balakrishnan R, Scarborough P, Webster P, Rayner M. The burden of
smoking related ill health in the UK. Tobacco Control . 2009;18:262-267.

Barnum H. The Economic Burden of the Global Trade in Tobacco. Tobacco Control
1994;3: 358-361

Callard C. Follow the money: how the billions of dollars that flow from smokers in
poor nations to companies in rich nations greatly exceed funding for global tobacco control and what might be done about it. Tob Control. 2010 Aug;19(4):285-90.

Buck D. Raw M. Godfrey C. Sutton M. Tobacco and jobs: the impact of reducing
consumption on employment in the UK. Centre for Health Economics, University
of York. 1995.

Parrott S, Godfrey C, Raw M, West R, McNeill A. Guidance for commissioners on
the cost effectiveness of smoking cessation interventions. Health Educational Authority. Thorax. 1998 Dec;53 Suppl 5 Pt 2:S1-38.