Interpretation

Current smoker estimates for each local authority can vary a lot from year to year because of small sample sizes. So, this indicator has moved to a five-year average to give a clearer picture of how smoking prevalence varies between local authority areas, rather than focusing on one year's figures.

The averages presented are five-year averages, calculated using data from 2019 to 2023 and 2020 to 2024, where available.

The five-year estimates have ranges of uncertainty (confidence intervals), which can be displayed by selecting the ‘Options’ button next to the bar and line charts.

North Northamptonshire and West Northamptonshire averages are based on a 3-year average (2022 to 2024), because of boundary changes.

City of London and Buckinghamshire Unitary Authority averages are based on a 4-year average (2021 to 2024), because of boundary changes.

Due to minor boundary changes in 2024, Local Authority codes were updated for Barnsley and Sheffield. Barnsley changed from E08000016 to E08000038, and Sheffield changed from E08000019 to E08000039. These changes did not affect comparability.

To account for the discontinuity caused by the move to telephone-only interviewing in 2020, a weighting adjustment was introduced for APS data from 2020 to 2023. A single factor was applied to the existing APS weights to give an adjusted weight, which reduced the discontinuity effect caused by the change in method of data collection. For the 2024 release, a revised weighting approach was developed, applying separate scaling factors for each year, reflecting the return to mixed mode (face-to-face and telephone) interviewing at the end of 2023. Estimates from 2020 to 2023 have been revised to reflect the updated approach. The weighting approach has not been applied to 2024 estimates because of the return to mixed mode interviewing. For more information please refer to the Adult smoking habits in the UK methodology page.

Get the data

You can download this dataset in an XLSX, CSV or CSVW format, or download all available datasets in an XLSX or JSON-Stat format.

The original source data for this indicator can be found on the following page: Office for National Statistics(opens in a new tab).

Information on the strengths and limitations of the Explore Local Statistics service and methods used is available in the quality and methodology information (QMI) report.

Other indicators

Cigarette smokers is one of 104 local indicators on the Explore local statistics service. See the full list of local indicators.