South West England has an above average number of smokers per capita in the UK

By Kieran Hadfield - 16 September 2020

Health

According to latest ONS figures, South West England has an above average number of smokers per capita in the UK, at 14.2% - above the average in England.

The region has more smokers than expected from the England average (13.9%) for the population, according to official figures released by Public Health England on 7th July 2020.

The best performing area in the South West is Stroud, with 9.6% of the population smoking. The three regions of Dorset with 10.1% of the population smoking is the next lowest. East Devon is the third best performer, with 10.3% of people being smokers.

The figures were sourced from official Public Health England figures released on 7th July 2020, collating data from NHS ‘quit smoking’ services and collated by Vape Club in a campaign to encourage smoking cessation. The data reveals a detailed look at where smoking remains an issue and how successful NHS services have been able to encourage smoking cessation.The worst performing part of the South West is West Devon, which has the greatest prevalence of smokers with 20.6%. This is followed by Sedgemoor with 20.5% and South Hampshire with 20.4%. 

With the NHS services under extreme pressure in 2020, the added strain that smoking puts on services can be seen by Public Health England data for ‘smoking attributable hospital admissions’ per region. In England, the latest PHE data shows that there were over half a million people admitted to hospital with smoking related illnesses over the year. The South West recorded a sizable chunk of these smoking related hospital admissions, emphasising the need to increase the smoking cessation.

Dan Marchantsmoking cessation expert and Director of Vape Club, said:

“More and more people are starting to see that vaping offers a game-changing alternative to traditional smoking cessation methods. As these figures show, vaping is actually twice as effective as other nicotine replacement products, and it is fantastic to see organisations such as Public Health England and the NHS embracing this public health breakthrough. However, there is clearly still a long way to go in getting the vaping message out to the millions of people still smoking in England.”

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