The government has made significant changes to the law in recent years to further push the UK towards becoming a smoke free country. Most notably, the government's "smoke-free generation" plan aims to create a generation that will never be able to legally buy tobacco products. Local authorities across the UK also deliver a wide range of services to help smokers to quit. Despite these efforts, around six million people in the UK are still smoking and it’s costing local authorities on average £936 to help a smoker to successfully quit.
The research, compiled by Haypp, looked at how much local authorities are spending on stop smoking services, vs the number of successful quitters. Based on current figures, it would cost local authorities a total of £5.61 billion to help every smoker in the UK to successfully quit.
With so much funding going towards quit-smoking services, it’s interesting to note that 57 per cent of people who have set a quitting date have successfully quit smoking in 2024. Men are more likely to be successful quitters, with 59 per cent of men who were trying to quit at the start of the year reporting that they have kicked the habit, compared to 56 per cent for females.
Stop- smoking services are provided by local councils, with each location offering a variety of services. On average, each council in England is spending £139,366 per year on quit smoking services which ranges from group support and one to one coaching, to free nicotine replacement patches and vape kits.
The data which can be viewed on an interactive map, view England quit smoking rates here, displays all of the areas around England based on the success rate for quitting smoking, as well as government expenditure and cessation tools. Overall, North Yorkshire had the highest quit smoking rate at 82 per cent, and Hartlepool reported the lowest quit smoking rate at just 13 per cent.
Additionally, the amount each council invested into stop smoking strategies and services varied considerably, with some councils investing much more than others in the effort to help people successfully quit. The councils currently spending the most per quitter, are:
- 1.Westminster – £6567
- 2.Ealing – £4771
- 3.Gloucestershire – £4043
- 4.Manchester – £3171
- 5.Telford and Wrekin – £3085
Quitting smoking strategies vary across the councils, but one highly successful method is encouraging smokers to switch to a less harmful nicotine product. In England, 58 per cent of people successfully quit using a nicotine replacement therapy product, such as nicotine pouches, and 63 per cent successfully quit using tobacco-free nicotine vapes as a quitting tool.
“Following UK government guidance, those who reduce the amount they smoke are more likely to stop smoking eventually," said Markus Lindblad, from Haypp. "The national harm reduction strategy, including switching to alternative, less harmful nicotine products, such as nicotine pouches, has been key to the UK being one of the most successful countries in Europe in reducing the number of smokers overall. While it comes with a high price tag, the UK has been very successful so far, and the investment is worth it.
“There are also several other possible contributing factors to these success rates, including local councils offering nicotine replacement therapy, free vape starter kits, online courses, and in person, one-to-one or group, support. All of these methods are excellent resources to help people quit smoking for good.”
