Philip Morris Limited, the UK affiliate of Philip Morris International, has criticised the Government’s tobacco policy for “deepening the North–South divide and leaving communities in the North behind,” following the release of latest data from Office for National Statistics.
According to ONS’ Adult Smoking Habits in the UK: 2025 report, the overall smoking rate has fallen to 9.8% but there remains a cohort of smokers who are not quitting, left behind by government policy.
Britain’s remaining smokers are predominantly older, Northern and socio-economically deprived:
- More 45-54-year-olds smoke than any other age group (12.4%), and among men in that generation, the smoking rate is going up rather than down (up from 14.2% to 14.7% in one year).
- High smoking rates are clustered in Northern England, with Blackpool (18.5%) and Kingston upon Hull (18.5%) having some of the highest smoking rates.
- By contrast, the local authorities with the lowest smoking rates are all in Southern England, with Epsom and Ewell (4.3%), and Woking (4.5%).
- Smoking rates among the unemployed (16.5%) and those working manual jobs (16.9%) remain stubbornly high, compared to those working professional jobs, of whom only 5.9% now smoke.
This comes at the same time as the illicit trade in cigarettes in the UK is growing. In June, KPMG found nearly half (45%) of cigarettes consumed in the UK last year had no tax paid on them. This amounts to 7.3 billion cigarettes and cost the Treasury £4.3 billion a year in lost tax revenue.
According to KPMG, the UK now has Europe’s second-largest illegal cigarette market, and it ranks third for the share of all cigarettes smoked that are illegal.
Analysis of the ONS figures undertaken by Philip Morris Limited, estimates that smoking rates in Greater Manchester – where Andy Burnham was the former Mayor – also remain high, sitting 2.5 percentage points higher than the national average at 12.3%.
Despite the new Prime Minister’s focus on the North of England, and his push for a ‘new social contract’, by failing to enable switching to alternatives, the data shows that smoking rates are falling most slowly – and among some groups even increasing – among those who he has pledged to stand for.
Peter Nixon, Managing Director of Philip Morris Limited UK & Ireland, said: “The UK’s tobacco policy is leaving Northern communities behind, deepening the North-South divide.
"The Government must make evidence-based policy decisions and introduce retail licensing, properly fund enforcement against the illicit tobacco trade and set robust product standards that help smokers switch to better alternatives.”