New figures show smoking costs the East of England £5.8 billion a year in lost productivity
Action on Smoking and Health says if no-one in the East smoked our economy would be £1.6 billion better off
Last updated 6th Dec 2023
New figures show smoking costs the East of England billions of pounds more than tobacco taxes.
Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) has published the data, which they say shows the "far-reaching" impact smoking has on society, on the day a consultation to create a smoke-free generation closes.
ASH has calculated that smoking costs the East of England £5.8 billion each year in lost productivity and service costs.
It says the figure for lost productivity is far greater than previous estimates, because it includes areas of lost productivity where the impact of smoking has not previously been estimated.
A new area they've looked into is the loss to the economy from people spending their money on tobacco, which generates fewer UK jobs and lower profit margins for retailers compared with other products and services people would purchase if they didn’t buy tobacco.
As a result of this analysis, ASH found that if no one bought tobacco in the East of England, the total benefit to the economy in gross value added would be £1.6 billion.
Howard Reed, from Landman Economics, carried out the analysis: “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 smoke-free future is likely to benefit poorest communities the most.”
Conservative MP for Harrow East, Bob Blackman CBE, said: “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 smoke-free generation must be a priority for us all.”
The Government is currently proposing to raise the age of sale one year every year so that those born before 2009 will never be legally sold tobacco.
Last month the new administration in New Zealand pledged to repeal a similar law as part of a coalition deal claiming it would enable them to cut taxes.
Deborah Arnott, Chief Executive of ASH, said: “In New Zealand politicians have made the ludicrous claim that repealing their smoke-free 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.”
Councillor David Fothergill, Chairman of the Local Government Association’s Community Wellbeing Board, said: “Councils work hard in their communities to help long term smokers quit and so are fully supportive of the Government’s smoke-free 2030 ambitions.
“Smoking remains one of the leading causes of preventable ill health, disability, and death in England. This creates additional pressures on our health and care systems and affects the quality of life for some in our local communities.
“We hope this consultation can help bring about a new smokefree generation, improving the life chances of people across the country.”
Alice Wiseman, Vice President of the Association of Directors of Public Health, said: “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.
"Today’s 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.”