More people have taken up smoking in Wychavon than any other region in the UK, according to data analysed since 2018.
A study analysed ONS data between 2018 and 2021 to find which local authorities in the UK have seen the largest change in numbers of smokers.
Wychavon, which includes Droitwich, Malvern, Evesham and Worcester, saw a staggering increase of 130.88 per cent since 2018, an increase of approximately 12,238 people taking up smoking, with an estimated 15.7 per cent of the region’s population now smoking (roughly 20,897 people).
The study highlights smoking habits across the UK just as the national quit smoking campaign, Stoptober, kicks off which comes in the wake of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s plans to prevent anyone aged 14 or younger from ever legally buying cigarettes.
The Prime Ministers plans, if passed in law, would raise the legal age of purchasing cigarettes by one year every year, meaning anyone born on or after January 1, 2009 will never legally be old enough to purchase cigarettes.
The ban would not criminalise smoking, allowing those already old enough to smoke to continue if they wish.
With 1st October marking the start of the national quit smoking campaign, Stoptober, a new study has revealed the areas of the UK that have seen the biggest increase and decrease in smokers.
A similar ban has been adopted by New Zealand which will begin to prevent those born on or after January 1, 2009 from smoking when the age of sale begins increasing in 2027.
As the age of sale has yet to begin increasing in New Zealand, there is currently no evidence on the effectiveness or impact of the ban.
If the ban came into effect in the UK, half of the population would be below the legal age of sale by 2053.
Stoptober, now in it’s 11th year, is a national NHS campaign to encourage people to quit smoking in October. Evidence suggests those who can refrain from smoking for 28 days are five times more likely to quit for good.
A spokesperson for Go Smoke Free commented: “Although there has been a 6.19% decline in smokers between 2018 and 2021 across the UK, there a still a several areas that are reporting an uptake in people identifying as smokers.
“With 1st October marking the start of Stoptober throughout the UK, these regional differences in smoking prevalence underscore the importance of continued research and awareness campaigns to address these differences effectively.”
It is worth noting that another dataset from the government’s Office for Health Improvement and Disparities records a steady decrease in smokers (aged 15+) across Wychavon from 15,478
people in 2013/14 to 15,222 people in 2021/22, equating to 14.7 per cent of the total population being smokers.
The analysis of the ONS and OHID datasets are based on a confidence interval of 95 per cent, meaning there is a possible swing of 5 per cent either way for each statistic.
For example if we drew 20 random samples and calculated a 95% confidence interval for each sample using the data in that sample, we would expect that, on average, 19 out of the 20 (95%) resulting confidence intervals would contain the true population value and 1 in 20 (5%) would not.
Visit www.worcestershire.gov.uk for advice on quitting smoking.
