If anyone had concerns about whether public awareness campaigns and the introduction or vaping would have a significant effect on smoking rates, we can confirm that they have.  Official reports indicate that the adult tobacco smoking rates in England have dropped noticeably.

Back in 2012 official statistics indicated that as many as 19.3% of adults living in England were smoking tobacco cigarettes. Three years later and this number has plummeted to 16.9%. In just three years this is a noteworthy change!

On the back of these new statistics, Public Health England (the government group responsible for all matters public health-related as well as the Go Smoke Free ban of 2007) have reported that while there are still approximately 7.2 million adults in England smoking, that this number is the lowest recorded since smoking records began.

Why The Drop in Smoking Rates

There are many factors that have affected the smoking rates. The public health campaigns that PHE run, from ongoing awareness and advertising around the harm that smoking can do, to targeted events such as Stoptober have gone a long way towards changing some people’s attitudes to smoking and helped them quit.

The rise in vaping and the decline is smoking rates is not a coincidence. With smokers realising that they may walk away from harmful cigarettes and enjoy the benefits of a variety of e juice flavours and a cheaper hobby long term, many officials credit vaping with helping to lower England’s smoking rates to their current level.

The 2007 Go Smoke Free legislation, spearheaded once more by Public Health England, made smoking at work, indoors in public places (such as in cafes, bars etc), on public transport and more illegal. This altered public perception even more and has been similarly credited with helping the smoking rates drop to the level that they are now.

The financial implications of smoking will also have contributed to helping smokers decide to give up or switch to e cigarettes and one pound e liquid. With smoking costs rising with each parliamentary budget and no chance of them dropping, it is clear that the best choice if you don’t want to, or can’t, give up smoking, is to move over to a more affordable option.

Moving Forward

This year, PHE announced via public review that after a lengthy review of evidence that they find e cigarettes and vaping to be at least 95% less harmful than tobacco cigarette smoking. This public and official support for vaping is expected to help the smoking rates drop further in the future. Not only have PHE released these findings as is, but they are also lobbying the government to relax certain vaping rules, to have e cigarettes and e liquids officially recognised as medical cessation devices and more.

This official support will hopefully go a long way towards continuing the trend of dropping smoking rates, alongside other key awareness campaigns and the rise in vaping popularity. With cigarettes now costing around £10 for a packet of twenty it wouldn’t be a shock if the number of adults smoking in England in 2018/2019 were lower still.

Whether individuals are choosing to giving up smoking and walk away or turn to vaping and vape liquids, this is great news. The fewer people who choose to smoke tobacco cigarettes, the better the health of the nation, the smaller a strain on the NHS (smoking related admissions, appointments, treatments and so on cost the NHS a significant amount) and on the environment will be reported. Here at 99p e liquid we are hopeful that for all of these reasons that smoking rates in England will continue to fall.