The National Pharmacy Association chief executive Paul Rees has called on Labour to “reverse” the last Conservative government’s cuts that led to the decommissioning of pharmacy stop smoking services.

Rees made his plea in response to the latest figures from the Office for National Statistics which revealed the number of smokers aged 18 and over in the UK last year fell to its lowest level since 2011.

He said reversing the cuts would “turbo-charge” the reduction in smoking rates but insisted that would only be achieved through investment in community pharmacy stop smoking services. Rees also called for a nationally commissioned walk-in smoking cessation pharmacy service to “end the postcode lottery for accessing support.”

Warning smoking is still “one of the biggest causes of ill-health in our communities,” he said: “For decades, community pharmacies across the UK have been instrumental in the fight against smoking. Through their locally commissioned services, they have supported hundreds of thousands of people to help quit.”

The ONS data showed six million people smoked in 2023, with the 25-to-34-year age group containing the highest proportion of smokers. The highest drop in smoking prevalence was amongst 18 to 24-year-olds between 2011 and 2023.

The figures also revealed the number of adults in the UK aged 16 and over who said they smoked fell from 11.2 per cent in 2022 to 10.5 per cent last year, continuing a “downward trend seen since 1974” according to the ONS.

Last year, Scotland had the largest percentage of smokers at 13.5 per cent, followed by Northern Ireland (13.3 per cent), Wales (12.6 per cent) and England (11.6 per cent).

In England, Fenland (22.1 per cent) and Blackpool (21.3 per cent) local authorities had the highest average percentage of smokers while Woking (5.3 per cent) and St Albans (5.7 per cent) had the lowest.

Men were more likely to smoke than women across the UK in 2023, with 3.4 million men and 2.6 million women reporting they were smokers.

In terms of age, 25 to 34-year-olds were most likely to smoke while people aged 65 and over were least likely to. Those aged 18 to 24 saw the largest reduction in smoking prevalence between 2011 and 2023.

More people with no qualifications were smokers than those who reported their highest level of education as ‘other qualifications’ and GCSEs. People with degrees or equivalent as their highest level of education were amongst the lowest percentage of smokers.

The data also revealed 5.1 million people aged 16 and over used e-cigarettes daily or occasionally last year. The highest use of e-cigarettes was found amongst 16 to 24-year-olds.