We still can’t agree how big Britain’s illegal tobacco problem is
Britain has an illegal tobacco problem. Our research found that 31 per cent of adults say they have been offered illegal tobacco, 85 per cent have heard of it and 82 per cent think not enough is being done to stop it.[1] Nicky Small, Corporate Affairs and Communications Director, JTI UK In the UK, legal duty-paid tobacco volumes have fallen by 52 per cent since 2021, on HMRC’s own figures[2]. Smoking rates have fallen too, but far more slowly. As shown in the Smoking Toolkit Study, tobacco smoking prevalence fell from 16.9 per cent in 2021 to 14.9 per cent in 2026, representing a 2 percentage point reduction, or an 11.8 per cent relative decline over the period.
