SMOKING in Herefordshire has fallen by around a third since the early 2010s, official figures reveal

An average of 10.2 per cent of adults in Herefordshire smoked between 2021 and 2025, official figures show, down from 15.9 per cent between 2012 and 2016.

Smoking in Herefordshire has fallen by 35.8 per cent in about a decade, an analysis of official figures shows.

An average of 15.9 per cent of adults in Herefordshire smoked across the five years from 2012 to 2016, according to Office for National Statistics figures, compared with 10.2 per cent across 2021 to 2025.

What else changed over those years? In early 2012, about one in 20 people in England who had tried to stop smoking in the past year used a vape in their most recent attempt, according to University College London's Smoking Toolkit Study.

By the summer of 2013 vapes had overtaken nicotine patches and gum bought over the counter, and they have stayed ahead of them in every quarter of the survey since.

Shane Margereson, founder of Ecigone, a five-time award-winning UK online vape shop, said the figures cover the years in which vapes became the most popular way for smokers in England to try to quit.

Mr Margereson, who quit smoking by switching to a vape, said, "When the first of these figures were collected, very few people trying to stop smoking used a vape. Within two years vapes were the most popular stop smoking aid in England, and they still are. These figures can't show how much difference that made, because tax rises, plain packs and stop smoking services have all played a part."

He added, "Seeing smoking in Herefordshire fall by around a third in about a decade is a big shift in a habit that used to be everywhere."

For more information visit ecigone.co.uk.