Latest WHO reports confirms UK tobacco rates are declining

The World Health Organization (WHO) has recently released a report confirming the current state of tobacco usage across the world in the country. 

The findings shed light on the prevailing trends, challenges, and potential areas for improvement in the UK’s efforts to curb tobacco consumption. This report serves as a timely reminder to the importance of implementing public health strategies, regulatory measures as the UK Government announces the next step in the consultation, and providing accessible quit support for smokers.

The use of tobacco products is in decline globally, a report has revealed, with the British smoking population estimated to be half that of 2010.

Around 24.1% of the British population aged 15 and over reported using a tobacco product in 2010, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO). The figure is projected to drop to 12.5% next year, a reduction of about 48%.

The WHO tobacco trends report released on Tuesday found a continued decline in tobacco use rates globally in 2022, with about one in five adults worldwide consuming tobacco compared to one in three in 2000.

The WHO report, which analysed data on both smoked and smokeless tobacco, showed that 150 countries were successfully reducing tobacco use.

Tobacco usage in Congo, Egypt, Indonesia, Jordan, Oman and Moldova were still rising.

The percentage of the population using smoked tobacco in 2022 – including cigarettes, roll-your-own and shisha, among others – was an estimated 14.2% in the UK, lower than in France (34.6%), Spain (28.4%), Italy (22.4%) and Germany (21.3%).

The south-east Asian region, consisting of 11 countries including India, Indonesia, Maldives and Thailand, had the highest percentage of population using tobacco in 2022 at 26.5%, with the European region not far behind at 25.3%.

The report showed that by 2030, the European region, consisting of 53 countries, is projected to have the highest rates globally with a prevalence of just over 23 per cent.

The report found 1.25 billion people aged 15 or over used tobacco in 2022, compared with 1.36 billion in 2000.

Tobacco use is set to fall further by 2030 to around 1.2 billion people even as the world’s population grows, according to the study.

You can read the full report from WHO here.