Proportion of smokers buying duty free tobacco in England triples since 2019

The proportion of smokers who have bought duty free tobacco in England has tripled since 2019, rising from just over 5% to more than 16%, according to a study.

The findings were a “cause for concern”, authors of the study, published online in the journal Tobacco Control, said, because those who used cheap tobacco were less likely to quit.

Between 2002 and 2014, between 12% and 20% of UK adult smokers said their last tobacco purchase had been from a low or untaxed source.

Smokers who buy their tobacco from low or untaxed sources, and those who switch to cheaper products, are less likely to try to quit smoking than those who continue to pay the full price, the report said.

The study aimed to find out if “significant” social and economic changes in England prompted by Brexit rule changes on allowable tobacco purchases for personal use, the social and travel restrictions imposed by the pandemic, and the cost-of-living crisis, had affected buying habits.

Researchers looked at data from 11,232 adults who had smoked in the past year, analysing changes between February 2019 – a year before the UK formally left the European Union – and October 2022.

The responses showed that the proportion of respondents reporting duty free tobacco purchases rose from just over 5% in February 2019 to just over 16% in October 2022.

The proportion of respondents who said they had bought on the black market did not change significantly, rising from just over 9% to just over 14% between February 2019 and November 2020, then falling back to 8.5% by October 2022.

The researchers acknowledge limitations to the study, such as all the data being self-reported and related to purchases within the preceding six months.

Participants were not asked about the frequency or quantity of tobacco purchases, so no distinction could be made between occasional and regular use of cost-cutting strategies.

However the report concludes: “A rise in cross-border (duty free) tobacco purchasing is a cause for concern given people who use cheap tobacco are less likely to try to quit smoking.

“Policy measures that reduce access to cheaper sources of tobacco could help increase the rate of quit attempts among those who smoke and accelerate progress towards the Government’s Smoke Free 2030 target.”