With October the UK’s national quit smoking campaign month with Stoptober, a new analysis has revealed the areas of England most interested in giving up smoking.
Online vape store Go Smoke Free analysed NHS Stop Smoking services data for 152 areas in England between April 2022 and March 2023. It considered which areas were most interested in quitting smoking, as determined by the number of people who had set a quit date per 100,000 smokers in each local authority. It also considered which areas were most successful at quitting smoking, as ascertained by the number of people who reported that they had quit during a four-week follow-up.
The research found that Wirral has the highest number of smokers looking to quit, with 8,299 out of every 100,000 smokers in the Merseyside borough reporting to have set a quit date. Wirral is the first of four areas in the North West of England that feature in the top ten for a desire to quit smoking. Stockton-on-Tees ranks second for interest in quitting, with 7,564 of every 100,000 smokers in the North East borough setting a quit date.
In third place is Hackney. One of four London local authorities in the top ten, 7,551 of every 100,000 smokers in Hackney set a date to stop smoking. Halton comes in fourth place with 7,459 smokers in 100,000 in the North West borough expressing a desire to stop smoking and setting a quit date to that effect. Kensington and Chelsea ranks fifth, with 7,331 of every 100,000 smokers in the royal borough wanting to quit. Another London borough, Camden, ranks sixth, with 7,326 of every 100,000 smokers setting a date to kick the habit.
Southend-on-Sea ranks seventh, with 7,264 out of 100,000 smokers in the resort town setting a date to quit. Warrington has 7,180 out of 100,000 smokers setting a quit date and ranks eighth on the list for a desire to quit. Sefton ranks ninth, with 6,966 per 100,000 smokers setting a quit date while Westminster ranks tenth, with 6,822 smokers out of 100,000 setting a quit date. Enfield is the area with the least desire to stop smoking, with only 109 smokers per 100,000 in the London borough reportedly setting a quit date.
Warrington was found to be the most successful at quitting smoking in England, with an 84.24% success rate. 1,026 out of 1,218 smokers who set a quit date through NHS Stop Smoking Services, reported that they had stopped smoking at the four-week follow-up.
