A study published last week estimated that 26.8 billion cigarettes are smoked each year in the UK. The state-funded pressure group Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) described this as a “staggering figure” and claimed that it was a “stark reminder of the deadly toll of inaction”. Seizing the opportunity to remind people about the ludicrous Tobacco and Vapes Bill, they said: “Everyday that passes without this legislation is a day lost in protecting our children from addiction and improving public health.”
It is ASH’s job to say things like this, of course, but it is nevertheless perverse to claim that smoking has been the subject of political inaction. It would be truer to say that “tobacco control” is one of the few things that pygmy politicians have been obsessed with in this era of displacement politics. And since the generational tobacco sales ban will not have any effect on anyone until its first victims turn 18 in January 2027, there is no need for parliamentarians to make haste.
Whether 26.8 billion is a “staggering figure” depends on how you look at it. It seems a big number but it is simply a function of 7.5 million smokers consuming an average of 10.4 cigarettes a day. Both of these figures are the lowest on record, no doubt as a result of all that government “inaction”. The study also found that only 5.5 per cent of smokers consume more than 20 cigarettes a day. When it comes to snouts, Britain has become a nation of lightweights.
The more interesting thing about 26.8 billion cigarettes being smoked each year is that only 14 billion cigarettes were sold legally in the UK last year. On top of that, legal sales of hand-rolling tobacco account for between 4.5 billion and 6.3 billion cigarettes (depending on how many fags you think can be made from a kilogram of loose baccy), but that still leaves between a quarter and a third of all the cigarettes smoked unaccounted for.
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