Revealed: Smoking rates have gone UP over the last decade in 20 parts of the UK... so how close is YOUR area to being 'smoke-free'?

EXCLUSIVE Revealed: Smoking rates have gone UP over the last decade in 20 parts of the UK...

so how close is YOUR area to being 'smoke-free'? READ MORE: Number of vapers who've never smoked tobacco soars 7-fold By Oliver Price, Data Journalist and John Ely Deputy Health Editor Published: 09:50 BST, 4 October 2024 | Updated: 09:58 BST, 4 October 2024 e-mail View comments Smoking rates have actually risen in 20 boroughs across the UK in the last decade, despite a huge Government push to eradicate the killer habit. Official statistics suggest the proportion of adults hooked on cigarettes has even doubled in one part of the country since 2012. This is despite smoking rates across Britain as a whole crashing to an all-time low.

Just 11.9 per cent of adults regularly lit up in 2023, the Office for National Statistics says. This is equivalent to around 6million people.

Smoking is now especially uncool among Gen Z, with rates having decreased by 60 per cent among 18-24 year olds since modern records began. Your browser does not support iframes. Despite the downturn, which has been matched by a meteoric rise in vaping, figures suggest that smoking rates have risen by 134 per cent in Uttlesford, Essex.

Some 24.9 of residents in Uttlesford smoked in 2023, compared to 10.6 per cent in 2012.

Read More How Britain looked before 2007 ban on smoking in indoor public places South Holland in Lincolnshire saw the second biggest rise (77.7 per cent), as per MailOnline's analysis, soaring from 14.