Smoking data: mortality, hospital admissions & prevalence projection tool
Tobacco is the leading single cause of premature death in Wales and a major contributor to health inequalities. This publication shows that smoking-attributable mortality has decreased in Wales. However, it still accounts for over 5,000 deaths each year, around one in every six of all deaths in people aged 35 and over.
Key Messages
Tobacco is the leading single cause of premature death in Wales and a major contributor to health inequalities. This publication shows that smoking-attributable mortality has decreased in Wales. However, it still accounts for over 5,000 deaths each year, around one in every six of all deaths in people aged 35 and over.
The impact of deprivation remains a significant concern. Smoking-attributable mortality and hospital admissions are twice as high among those living in the most deprived areas of Wales as those in the least deprived areas. There has been little change to this gap over time and in some areas it has widened.
Smoking prevalence has also decreased over time. However, the percentage of smokers quitting will need to increase further to meet Welsh Government’s target prevalence of 16%.
Explore Data Further
Four interactive data files are included in this release. Three update the smoking-attributable indicators from the 2012 publication Tobacco and health in Wales. The fourth shows how smoking prevalence may change up to 2039, depending on changes in factors such as the percentage of smokers quitting.
Smoking-attributable indicators by area (.xlsx) – trend and comparison data for Wales, health boards and local authorities.
Smoking-attributable indicators by deprivation fifth (.xlsx) – trend and comparison data at the Wales level.
Smoking-attributable indicators by disease (.xlsx) – counts and percentages for Wales and health boards.
Smoking prevalence projection estimator (.xlsx) – smoking prevalence projections defined by user inputs for Wales and health boards.
Technical guides are included in each of the files. A spreadsheet (.xlsx) containing all the data from the smoking-attributable indicators is also available.
Get in touch
For further information or to give feedback, please email us on: publichealthwalesobservatory@wales.nhs.uk