A summary of changes over time Smoking

Prevalence of cigarette smoking by sex: Great Britain, 1974 to 2002

Percentage of cigarette smoking by sex and age: Great Britain, 1980 to 2002 (2000 and 2002 weighted data)

In 1974, 51 per cent of men smoked cigarettes compared with 41 per cent of women. The difference between the proportions of men and women smoking has gradually reduced, although it has not disappeared completely. For example, 38 per cent of men and 33 per cent of women were smokers in 1982, compared with 27 per cent of men and 25 per cent of women in 2002.

Although there has consistently been a greater proportion of men smoking than women, this is not the case in every age group. In recent years there has been a significant drop in the proportion of men aged 16 to 19 smoking cigarettes (from 30 per cent in 2000 to 22 per cent in 2002).

Women aged 16 to 19 were significantly more likely to smoke cigarettes than men in this age group, with 29 per cent smoking in 2002.

Since 1974, the greatest percentage decrease in the proportion smoking has been among people aged 60 and over, where the prevalence has more than halved from 34 per cent to 15 per cent in 2002. However, this reflects the fact that people in this age group are more likely to have been regular smokers in the past who have given up.

There has been an increase in the proportion of men and women aged 16 and over who have never smoked a cigarette. Among men, the proportion who have never smoked rose from 25 per cent in 1974 to 46 per cent in 2002. The increase in the proportion of women who have never smoked has been smaller, from 49 per cent in 1974 to 54 per cent in 2002.

The GHS has consistently shown that cigarette smoking is more prevalent among people in manual occupational groups than those in non-manual groups. In the 1970s and 1980s, the proportion of cigarette smokers in non-manual occupations fell more sharply than that for manual occupations.

Since the 1990s, however, proportions in both groups have remained relatively constant. In 2002, 20 per cent of those classified as non-manual workers smoked cigarettes, compared with 31 per cent of those classified in the manual group.

The introduction of the NS-SEC classification means that any comparisons over this period should be treated with caution.

Although the prevalence of cigarette smoking changed little during the 1990s, the GHS has shown a continuing fall in the reported number of cigarettes smoked. The fall in consumption has occurred mainly among younger smokers, while the number of cigarettes smoked by those aged 50 and over has changed very little since the mid-1970s.

Most of the decline in consumption in the 1990s is due to a reduction in the proportion of heavy smokers. The proportion of respondents smoking on average 20 or more cigarettes a day fell from 14 per cent of men in 1990 to 11 per cent in 1998, and from 9 to 7 per cent of women over the same period. It has since remained virtually unchanged among both men and women. The proportion of respondents who were light smokers also changed little throughout the 1990s.

Filter cigarettes continue to be the most widely smoked type of cigarette. However, there was an increase in the 1990s in the proportion of people smoking hand-rolled cigarettes.

Among men the proportion increased from 18 per cent in 1990 to 33 per cent in 2002. Among women it increased from 2 to 13 per cent during the same period. This increase may be partly due to the rising price of packaged cigarettes and the reduction of tar yield in packaged cigarettes (hand-rolled may be made with a higher tar yield).

A decline in the prevalence of pipe and cigar smoking among people aged 16 and over has been evident since the survey began, with most of the decrease occurring in the 1970s and 1980s. The proportion of men smoking pipes fell from 12 per cent in 1974 to 6 per cent in 1986. In 2002 it was only 1 per cent.

The proportion of men smoking at least one cigar a month more than halved from 34 per cent in 1974 to 16 per cent in 1978. By 2002 it had reduced to 5 per cent. Only 3 per cent of women smoked cigars in 1974, and since 1978 the proportion of women who smoke cigars has scarcely been measurable by the GHS.