Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) have published new data shedding light on the true cost that smoking has on society in England, and demonstrating why bold action needs to be taken in pursuit of a smoke-free future that will benefit the whole of society.
These figures come just after the close of the UK Government open consultation on smoking and youth vaping, which includes the proposed action of increasing the legal age to purchase tobacco by a year every year with the aim of creating a smoke-free generation.
Smoking cost England £49.2 billion each year
It is easy to underestimate the cost of smoking to our society, as most of us will only consider the health and social care costs, but this is actually just a piece of the puzzle.
Howard Reed from Landman Economics, who undertook the analysis for these estimated smoking costs, explained:
“Smoking damages society in many ways that people are often unaware of. It is in fact the economic impact of tobacco, far more than healthcare, that creates the biggest costs to society. Local economies with the highest rates of smoking will also pay the highest price often compounding already high levels of disadvantage. A smokefree future is likely to benefit poorest communities the most.”
One of the biggest hits actually comes from loss of productivity, which includes smoking related lost earnings, unemployment, early death, and the reduction of GVA due to expenditure on tobacco. The total productivity costs are an estimated £32 billion annually.
These figures are far greater than previous estimates as they include areas of lost productivity that have not previously been included. One of these areas is the estimated loss to the economy due to people spending money on tobacco, which does not generate many UK jobs and has lower profit margins for retailers, rather than other products and services that may have otherwise been purchased. Shockingly, this analysis found that if no one purchased tobacco in England the total benefit to the economy would be £13.6 billion.
The total healthcare costs per year add up to £1.9 billion, but far bigger is the social care costs, which add up to £15 billion per year. These include domiciliary and residential care, but also the cost of informal care provided by family and friends, as well as the cost of unmet care needs.
Another area which contributes to this cost is smoking related fires, which not only includes the cost of fire and rescue services, but also death, injury, and property damage, and totals £328.1 million annually.
Bob Blackman CBE, Conservative MP for Harrow East, weighed in on the estimates:
“The new analysis published by ASH showing the vast damage to the economy due to smoking comes as no surprise to me. As a former local council leader and MP I’m acutely aware that smoking inflicts damage to the whole local economy, not just the NHS, with people unable to work and needing social care on average ten years earlier because of the diseases and disability caused by smoking. The new figures are a timely reminder to local authorities and the NHS of why the government’s objective of creating a smokefree generation must be a priority for us all.”
A stark reminder of the need for a smoke-free future
These eye-watering costs are just another reminder of the importance of taking action to reduce smoking prevalence.
In 2019 the Government announced their intention for England to be smoke-free by the year 2030, which would mean that smoking rates dropped to 5% of the population or lower, to tie in with the tobacco control plan. Since then steady progress has been made, and the latest edition of the Office for National Statistics (ONS) ‘Adult smoking habits in the UK’ showed that smoking rates in England are now at their lowest since records began, 12.7%.
But as the deadline gets closer it has become clear that bold and decisive action is needed if this ambition is to become a reality. Last year the independent report ‘Making smoking obsolete’, often referred to as the Khan review, found that without such action England is set to miss the smoke-free 2030 target by at least 7 years.
The Government is now hoping to take such action with proposed new policies which could have an unprecedented effect on smoking rates. In October this year Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced plans to protect future generations from the harms of smoking by introducing a law that will prevent anyone born on or after 1st January 2009 from ever legally purchasing tobacco products. This proposed new legislation will effectively raise the smoking age by one year every year, with the aim to create the first smoke-free generation.
New Zealand recently pledged to repeal a similar law with the claim that it would enable them to cut taxes, but experts are warning that this is not a realistic expectation.
Deborah Arnott, Chief Executive at ASH, explains why:
“In New Zealand politicians have made the ludicrous claim that repealing their smokefree generation laws will allow them to cut taxes. The opposite is clearly the case. The cost of smoking to public services and public finances is far greater than the taxes tobacco raises, and there are multiple economic benefits from spending on products that have more value to the economy and create a healthier workforce.
“In England the tobacco tax take is £11.3 billion in 2023, but the cost to public finances and the economy is four times greater, so creating a smokefree generation is the prudent economic strategy for us, as it is for New Zealand.”
In a recent opinion poll publish by ASH it was found that 67% of the English public back this proposed new legislation to prevent future generations from ever being introduced to the harms of smoking. If introduced, it would not only help ease the gargantuan cost smoking has on society, but would protect young people from smoking related diseases and ill health. As time progresses this law would eventually apply to the whole population, ending smoking and bringing a better future with fewer health inequalities.
Alice Wiseman, Vice President of the Association of Directors of Public Health, discussed the need for targeting the younger generation which could prevent the uptake of a lifelong addiction:
“These new figures reveal the sheer scale of cost that tobacco has on our society. We know that the majority of people who smoke start young and regret ever starting but, because they are addicted, struggle to quit.
“We know that this addiction causes untold harms to individuals’ health and that costs. It costs to provide health and social care and it costs the economy when people aren’t well enough to work. [The] figures put a shocking price on these – and other – financial costs but what is impossible to calculate is the cost to the 64,000 families who lose a loved one every single year as a direct result of tobacco. We simply must make this legislation a reality.”
The open consultation on smoking and youth vaping closed on 6th December 2023, but you can read more about the proposed actions and how we responded to the consultation in our blog post ‘Government opens consultation on smoking and youth vaping’.
At a glance
- New estimates from Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) suggest smoking costs society in England £49.2 billion annually
- The cost to the economy in England from smoking-related lost productivity alone adds up to £32 billion per year
- The cost estimates from ASH demonstrate the need for action to make smoking obsolete and protect future generations
Sources
ash.org.uk 06/12/2023
gov.uk 04/10/2023
gov.uk 04/10/2023
gov.uk 07/2019
ons.gov.uk 05/09/2023
gov.uk 25/08/2022
