North East smoking rates fall to second lowest in the country

The latest figures published by the Office for National Statistics show that adult smoking rates in the North East have fallen from 13.1% in 2022 to 11% in 2023.

Nationally, the North East has seen the largest fall in adult smoking since 2005 when 29% of adults in the region were smoking (the highest rate in the country), compared to 11% in 2023. This is a 62% reduction overall and means that smoking rates in the North East are now the second lowest in the country.

However, Fresh is calling for the efforts to be maintained, as smoking-related illness remains high and smoking rates are much higher in certain groups including people with mental illness and those living in poorer communities.

The figures come as Fresh re-launches its Smoking Survivors campaign, which is supported by local authorities and NHS partners to encourage thousands more in the region to quit. It also comes as discussions continue nationally around creating a Smokefree Future for the next generation by raising the age of sale.

Despite the fall in the smoking rate, 18% of adults aged 18-64 still smoke in the region compared to 19.5% in England. Smoking remains the region’s leading cause of health inequalities, the biggest cause of cancer, and the largest cause of preventable deaths. It also costs the region an estimated £2.35 billion every year.

Ailsa Rutter OBE, Director of Fresh and Balance, said: “These figures show the impact of local authorities and the NHS working together with Fresh to take action on our biggest cause of ill health and premature death. Smoking rates are now down to record-low levels in the North East and for the first time lower than in England. From a region where smoking was embedded for many as a way of life, this is not something we could have imagined 20 years ago – it has taken collective efforts and a vision that our people don’t deserve to die 10 years earlier from smoking, nor face a lifetime of addiction.

“It is a huge credit to partners in our region’s local authorities and the NHS that reducing smoking has been made a top priority and reinforces the goal of eliminating the harm from smoking for good. Year-round campaigns raise motivation to quit and ensure smokers have access to support as part of a comprehensive tobacco control programme is lifesaving. We are proud of the collaboration over many years on a comprehensive approach to reducing smoking and our clear vision that death and disease from tobacco smoking need to become a thing of the past, once and for all.”

Ailsa added: “Smoking is still our number one killer and rates are much higher in key groups including people with mental illness and those living in poorer communities. Rates of lung cancer are still rising among women. We still need concerted action now at local, regional and national levels to reduce adult smoking to 5% by 2030.”

Amanda Healy, Durham County Council’s Director of Public Health and Chair of the Association of Directors of Public Health North East Forum, said: “Most people who smoke start as children and may make several quit attempts. It is about motivating them to quit and ensuring they know support is out there.

“The North East has made a region-wide joint commitment to reducing smoking – our aim is to make a real difference to the health and well-being of residents across the region. Working together we can reduce these but we also need this concerted action at a national level.”

Dr Neil O’Brien, a GP and Chief medical officer for the North East and North Cumbria Integrated Care Board, said: “Supporting and encouraging people to quit smoking is still one of the most important and most effective things we can do to improve the health of people living in our region – especially people in our poorer communities who are more likely to smoke and die from smoking.

"Together we have made huge progress to reduce smoking in this region but our NHS and communities are still blighted by the decades where we have had the highest rates of smoking and tobacco-caused diseases such as lung cancer and COPD. There is still much more to do and these are the compelling reasons why smoking is now being addressed as a core clinical priority across our region and by the whole system.

"We know that if we reduce smoking even further we will not only enable people to live longer healthier lives but it will have a massive and positive knock-on impact on our regional economy, which in turn with benefit the physical and mental health of our communities too.”

Sue Mountain, from South Tyneside, started smoking at the age of 11 and was diagnosed with laryngeal cancer at the age of 48 and has shared her story as part of the Fresh Smoking Survivors campaign. She said: “This is incredible news – as someone who has suffered the pain, the worry and the misery of cancer from smoking, we need to make smoking a thing of the past for more families in our region.

“For people who smoke it gives hope. So many people have quit, are actively trying to quit, or are not taking up smoking in the first place. We now know so much about the terrible impact smoking has on health. This is the harsh reality of an addiction.

“While the reduction in smoking is incredible news, and so many are moving toward a healthier future, we can’t let up on all the efforts to move to a smokefree future when too many people still smoke in poorer areas and struggling with mental health issues.

“People are getting diseases like cancer and COPD far too young. I don’t want one person going through what I did.”