More people in Shropshire taking up smoking despite national decrease
More adults across Shropshire have taken up smoking in the last year, data shows.
New data from the Office for National Statistics has revealed an increase in people taking up smoking in the county, despite national figures recording the lowest proportion of smokers in the UK to date.
The ONS data shows 13.2 per cent of people aged over 18 in Shropshire were smokers in 2021, up from 10.8 per cent the year before. However, it is still a fall from 17.2 per cent five years ago.
Women in Shropshire smoked more than men, with 9.6 per cent taking up cigarettes in the last year.
But a further 27.2 per cent of adults in the area were ex-smokers, while the majority of the population – 59.6 per cent said they had never smoked.
Hazel Cheeseman, deputy chief executive of Action on Smoking and Health, welcomed the national fall in smoking levels, but said the Government must not become "complacent".
She said that without a new tobacco plan from the Government, "the vision of being smoke free by 2030" will not be met.
Experts have said the increase in people taking up e-cigarettes has played a "major role" in the fall, with a separate survey finding 7.7 per cent of those aged 16 and over in Great Britain last year used an e-cigarette daily or occasionally.
The current tobacco control plan aims to reduce smoking prevalence among adults in England to 12 per cent or less by the end of 2022.
Regionally, 13.8 per cent of adults in the West Midlands were smokers, with those aged from 25 to 34 – 17.5 per cent – making up the highest proportion of smokers.
David Fothergill, chairman of the Local Government Association’s community wellbeing board, said that councils can help deliver the ambition of eliminating smoking in England by 2030, but needed certainty over long-term funding.
He added: “Reducing smoking rates among the remaining 5.4 million smokers in England is the single biggest thing we can do to improve the nation’s health."
