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Information / Health inequalities
A 10% smoking rate does not mean 10% everywhere
Smoking has fallen across Wales, but the remaining harm is concentrated much more heavily in some communities and groups than others.
Last reviewed: 23 September 2026
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The national average hides a very uneven picture.
Public Health Wales estimates smoking prevalence at 22.6% in the most deprived fifth of areas, compared with 6.8% in the least deprived fifth.
What does the latest Wales data show?
Different sources measure slightly different populations, so the exact percentages vary. The pattern is consistent: smoking is much more common in groups already facing greater disadvantage or poorer health.
22.6%
estimated smoking prevalence in the most deprived fifth of areas
Compared with 6.8% in the least deprived fifth in Public Health Wales’ 2026 cost analysis.
23%
of social housing tenants reported smoking
Compared with 17% of private renters and 7% of owner occupiers in the 2024–25 National Survey for Wales.
24%
of people with a mental health condition reported smoking
Compared with 8% of people with none of the listed conditions in the same National Survey release.
National Survey subgroup figures are estimates based on smaller samples than the headline Wales figure, so individual percentages carry more uncertainty. The wider pattern is more important than treating any one number as exact.
The harm is unequal too
Between 2020 and 2022, Public Health Wales estimated an average of 3,845 smoking-attributable deaths a year among adults aged 35 and over.
In the most deprived fifth of areas, the age-standardised smoking-attributable mortality rate was more than three times higher than in the least deprived fifth.
The cost follows the same pattern
Public Health Wales estimates that nearly one-third of all smoking-related costs in Wales fall in the most deprived fifth of communities.
That includes health and social care, lost productivity and wider costs.
Why are smoking rates different?
There is no single explanation. Smoking is connected with a web of circumstances that often overlap.
Income, housing, work, stress, mental health, the people around us, how normal smoking feels locally and how easy support is to access can all shape smoking and quitting.
Survey figures show associations between these factors and smoking. They do not mean that one characteristic automatically causes someone to smoke.
Why “just quit” misses the point
Nicotine dependence is real, and the situations around smoking can make quitting easier or harder.
Someone who is under constant pressure, lives with other smokers or has used cigarettes for years as part of coping may need a different kind or amount of support from someone whose circumstances are very different.
What does this mean for someone who wants to stop smoking?
You should not have to fit your life around a standard quit plan. Support can be adapted around what makes smoking difficult to leave behind for you.
Tell them what smoking does for you
If cigarettes are tied to stress, socialising, work breaks, boredom or people around you, say that. It helps build a plan for the difficult moments rather than ignoring them.
Use enough help for cravings
NRT, stop-smoking medicines and vaping for adults who smoke can reduce the pull of nicotine while you deal with the situations linked to smoking.
Trying before is useful information
If a previous attempt fell apart because of money worries, stress, another smoker at home or a particular trigger, that tells you where the next plan needs more support.
Free support is available wherever you live in Wales
Help Me Quit is the national NHS stop-smoking service. You can use telephone, local, pharmacy and digital support and get help choosing treatment for cravings.