The last cigarette smoked in England will be put out in 2050

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Last cigarette smoked in England will be put out in 2050, scientists claim | Daily Mail Online

The last cigarette smoked in England will be put out in 2050 - and Bristol's final smoker will quit in just five years, scientists claim

-- Study commissioned by tobacco giant Philip Morris and conducted by analysts Frontier Economics
-- Bristol to be smoke free by 2024 followed by York, Wokingham, Berksire in 2026
-- In 1990, almost a third of British adults smoked, but that has halved to 15% since

By HARRY HOWARD FOR MAILONLINE
PUBLISHED: 01:54 GMT, 24 March 2019 | UPDATED: 09:26 GMT, 24 March 2019

The last cigarette to be smoked in England will be in Derby by 2050, researchers have predicted.

According to a new report, if the current decline in smoking continues, then today’s 7.4 million smokers will reduce to zero in 30 years.

Increased use of NHS services to help people quit, the popularity of e-cigarettes and heated tobacco account for the decline, but Public Health England said vaping should be tried by more smokers to further reduce rates, the Mirror reported.

The last cigarette to be smoked in England will be in Derby by 2050, research commissioned by tobacco giant Philip Morris has predicted

'Regular e-cigarette use is plateauing. There is an opportunity to further reduce the harms caused by tobacco by encouraging more smokers to try vaping,' the organisation said.

And they predict Bristol will become the first city to quit by having no smokers after 2024, followed by York and Wokingham, Berkshire, in 2026.

The predictions in the study, commissioned by tobacco firm Philip Morris and conducted by analysts Frontier Economics, were based on employment, income, education and health data.

In 1990, almost a third of British adults smoked, but that figure has halved to around 15 per cent since then.

Philip Morris's increasing focus on smoke-free products signals the firm's aim to stop producing cigarettes altogether.

Director of Corporate Affairs Mark MacGregor said: 'There are more alternative options than ever to help people give up cigarettes for good.'

The news comes despite the fact that one in five people in deprived areas are still smokers.

Around 22 per cent of people in Kingston upon Hull, Blackpool and North Lincolnshire still light up.

Researchers have previously said that the decision to remove cigarettes from display in shops played an 'important role in reducing child smokers'.

The UK Government made it illegal to have cigarettes on show on the shelf in 2015 in a crackdown on smoking.

And scientists then found that the number of children who have bought cigarettes from a shop since the ban has dropped by 17 per cent.

Researchers from Imperial College London quizzed 18,000 children over how often they smoke and where they get cigarettes from.

Just 40 per cent of children who smoked in 2016 bought their cigarettes in shops – down from 57 per cent in 2010, the study showed.