Smoking on the rise in most parts of Norfolk despite fall across the UK
Around a fifth of people in Norwich and King's Lynn are smokers
Last updated 7th Dec 2022
The proportion of smokers in many parts of Norfolk is on the rise despite rates elsewhere in the UK falling to record lows.
Nationally, figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show that 13.3% of people aged 18 and over in the UK smoked cigarettes in 2021, the equivalent of around 6.6 million people.
This is the lowest proportion of current smokers since records started in 2011, when it stood at 20.2%.
However in Norwich and King's Lynn/West Norfolk - two of the areas in Norfolk with the highest rates - there were significant increases in the proportion of smokers between 2020 and 2021.
In Norwich 20.2% of people reported being smokers in 2021, up from 16.7% in 2020.
In King's Lynn and West Norfolk rates went up to 19.3%, from 14.4% in 2020.
Rates of smoking also increased in Broadland and Breckland, while Fenland in Cambridgeshire reported the highest rate of smoking in the UK last year - at 27.8%.
Great Yarmouth saw a significant fall in the rate of smoking, down to 13.8% last year from 18.9%. North Norfolk saw a slight drop to 13.2%.
It means Norfolk is mostly bucking a national trend which has seen many smokers swap tobacco for e-cigarettes and vapes.
The ONS said that vaping devices such as e-cigarettes have played a "major role" in reducing the prevalence of smoking across the UK.
It added that the proportion of vapers was highest among current cigarette smokers (25.3%) and ex-cigarette smokers (15.0%), with only 1.5% of people who have never smoked reporting that they currently vape.
But it added that policies associated with the tobacco control plan for England, such as increased public awareness campaigns and smoke free places, may have also contributed to decreased smoking prevalence.
The Government's tobacco control plan aims to reduce smoking prevalence among adults in England to 12% or less by the end of 2022.
Men were more likely to be current smokers in 2021, with 15.1% of men smoking compared with 11.5% of women in the UK.
People aged 25 to 34 years had the highest proportion of current smokers at 15.8%, the ONS said, while those aged 65 and over had the lowest at 8.0%.