The cost of smoking to the UK Government is approximately £12.6 billion a year, made up of £1.4 billion spent on social care for smoking related care needs, £2.5 billion spent on NHS services and £8.6 billion of lost productivity in businesses*. But what is smoking costing you personally?
The cost of smoking on your health
Half of all life-long smokers die early, losing on average 10 years of their life. Smoking related deaths made up 16% of all deaths across the UK in 2016 and smoking is the largest cause of preventable death in England. Smoking has an effect on most organs, here is how:
- Brain: Smoking increases the risk of having a stroke by at least 50%
- Heart: Smoking can double the risk of having a heart attack
- Bones: Smoking can cause bones to become week and brittle which increases the risk of osteoporosis in women
- Lungs: Smoking causes 84% of deaths from lung cancer and 83% of deaths from COPD
- Circulation: Smoking increases blood pressure and heart rate
- Fertility: Smoking can cause a lack of sexual appetite and impotency in men, and can make it harder for females to conceive
- Mouth and throat: Smoking can increase the risk of cancer in lips, tongue, throat, voice box and gullet
- Stomach: Smoking increases the chance of getting stomach cancer or ulcers
- Skin: Smoking prematurely ages skin by between 10 and 20 years
The cost of smoking on your bank account
On average, smokers smoke 20 cigarettes a day; with a packet of cigarettes costing £13.30 that’s a spend of £93.10 per week, or £4,841.20 per year. For that you could buy:
- A family holiday abroad, including hotel, flights and entertainment and spending money
- The average food shop in 2020 for a family of 4 was £99.00 per week, that’s just over 48 weeks of shopping.
Over 20 years, if cigarettes remain at the current price you would spend £98,824!
Isn’t it time for you to quit?