Filter cigarettes continue to be the most widely smoked type of cigarette, especially among women, but during the 1990s there was a marked increase in the proportion of smokers who said that they smoked mainly hand-rolled tobacco. In 1990, 18% of men smokers and 2% of women smokers said they smoked mainly hand-rolled cigarettes, but by 2000 this had risen to 31% and 10% respectively. There are likely to be two main reasons for this sharp increase in the use of hand-rolled cigarettes:

• the rise in the real price of packaged cigarettes - hand-rolled ones are cheaper
• the reduction in tar yield of packaged cigarettes (see section 8.11) - hand-rolled ones can give a higher tar yield.

It is possible that the lessening of the restrictions on the amount of tobacco that can legally be brought into the country and an increase in smuggling have also contributed to the increase in the consumption of hand-rolled tobacco.