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Smokers (Statistics)

Volume 84: debated on Wednesday 30 October 1985

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asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will list the number of smokers who have been recorded by the Office of Population Censuses and Surveys in each single year during the last 20 years; and what these figures represent as a percentage of the total population during the same period.

Questions about smoking have been asked in the General Household Survey in alternate years since 1972. The following table shows the numbers and percentages of persons who were recorded in the surveys as (a) smoking at all and (b) smoking cigarettes.

(a) Prevalence of smoking: 1972–1984
Persons aged 16 and overGreat Britain
Current smokers*Base=100 per cent.
PercentagesNumbers
19725111,53622,471
19745210,99021,281
19764911,36823,409
19784610,25822,518
1980439,65522,500
1982397,68919,730
1984376,73818,058
* For 1974 and 1976, figures include occasional cigar smokers, that is, those who smoked less that 1 cigar a month.
In 1980 to 1984 males were not asked about pipe-smoking, and therefore the figures for all smokers exclude those who smoked only a pipe.
(b) Prevalence of cigarette smoking 1972–1984
Persons aged 16 and overGreat Britain
Current cigarette smokers*Base=100 per cent.
PercentagesNumbers
19724610,49522,620
1974459,69721,372
1976429,77423,482
1978409,11622,636
1980398,88522,554
1982357,01619,840
1984346,20618,205
* Figures for cigarettes include all smokers of manufactured and hand-rolled cigarettes.