From 1 October 2026, a new UK Vaping Products Duty begins and duty stamps start appearing on retail vape packaging. Here’s what the change means in Wales — and what it does not tell you about a product.
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: 27th September 2026
QUICK ANSWER
The national average hides a very uneven picture.
The latest National Survey for Wales shows large differences in smoking by housing, mental health and qualifications. Public Health Wales also models a strong deprivation gradient in smoking prevalence; those modelled figures are useful context but are not the same measure as the National Survey estimates. See the Public Health Wales source ↗
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.
20%
of adults with qualifications below NQF level 2 or no qualifications reported smoking
Compared with 6% of adults with degree-level qualifications or above in the 2024–25 National Survey for Wales. Welsh Government source ↗
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. Welsh Government source ↗
For newer ASH Wales/YouGov evidence focused specifically on people living in social housing, see our 2026 social-housing report.
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. Welsh Government source ↗
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 337 per 100,000, compared with 111 per 100,000 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.
NEW RESEARCH • 2026
New social-housing findings from Wales
ASH Wales/YouGov research found 28% of social-housing respondents currently smoked, compared with 12% across Wales in the same survey. 21% currently vaped, and 33% reported a mental-health condition they had received treatment for in the past year.
The social-housing subgroup has an unweighted base of 130, so these findings should be read as published survey evidence rather than official prevalence statistics.