The proportion of adults who smoke across Humber and North Yorkshire has fallen to the lowest levels on record, according to data published by the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID).
The data, taken from the Annual Population Survey (APS) shows that adult smoking rates across Humber and North Yorkshire were 11.7% in 2024 down from 12.7% the previous year. This equates to around 14,780 fewer smokers, with the region now estimated to have 173,000 current smokers. The latest figures represent the lowest rates of smoking across the area since that time.
Regional smoking rates have more than halved over the last 20 years, down from 28% as recently as 2004. Across England as a whole, smoking rates are now at 10.4%, a decrease from 11.6% last year. Again, this marks the lowest national levels of smoking since records began.
There continues to be significant variation in smoking rates. Smoking rates vary locally from 18.4% in Kingston upon Hull to 6.7% in York.
Improvements in local and regional smoking rates reflect co-ordinated efforts to support smokers to quit and prevent a new generation of smokers from starting a lifetime of addiction. NHS Humber and North Yorkshire Integrated Care Board established the Centre for Excellence in 2023 to help co-ordinate efforts to tackle the harm from smoking. The Breathe Collaborative brings together all 15 local authorities across Yorkshire and Humber and has funded work such as the What Will you Miss mass media stop smoking campaign in early 2025, as well as workforce development training. This all complements local authority and NHS efforts to reduce smoking by offering free behavioural support to help smokers quit.
Smoking remains the biggest preventable cause of early death in England. Tobacco is estimated to cause up to 2,500 premature deaths across Humber and North Yorkshire each year. It is also estimated to cost the ICB area nearly £1.4billion a year in lost productivity, sick leave and in treatment costs borne by the NHS.
Scott Crosby, Associate Director for the Humber and North Yorkshire Centre for Excellence in Tobacco Control said:
“It is positive to see the progress that is being made to reduce the harm caused by tobacco across our area.
“However, smoking still causes around 2,500 premature deaths a year in our area alone, more than 7 a day – all of which are preventable. It also places a significant burden on the NHS, with smoking responsible for over 18,000 hospital admissions across our ICB in the last year alone. The Tobacco and Vapes Bill which is currently proceeding through parliament sets out an ambition for a smokefree society, and we must do more to ensure that expert support to quit smoking is available to all current smokers and that measures are introduced to dissuade more young people from becoming addicted to tobacco. Only then can we aspire to achieve a smokefree generation”.
Free stop smoking support is available to everyone and with help you are three times more likely to quit then trying it on your own. Visit www.yestoquit.co.uk to find your local service.
