Smoking in Scotland – How Households Have Quit Cigarettes

Trends in Smoking Habits Across Scotland (2012–2019)

From 2012 to 2019, the Scottish Survey Core Question (SSCQ)—a project combining several large household surveys (more here)—was used to track smoking rates across Scotland.

The data shows a clear trend: more and more Scots are quitting cigarettes. While we cannot determine causation from this dataset, we can highlight significant differences across age groups and constituencies. These findings reveal how smoking has declined at different rates within the population.

Smoking by Age Group

The following maps visualize changes in smoking rates across all groups, as well as within three age brackets: 18–34, 35–64, and 65+.

Animated map of smoking rates by Scottish constituency, all adults, 2012 to 2019

Animated map of smoking rates by constituency, ages 18 to 34

Animated map of smoking rates by constituency, ages 35 to 64

Animated map of smoking rates by constituency, ages 65 and over

Overall, there is a consistent decrease in smoking across nearly all groups, as further illustrated by the chart below:

Line chart of Scottish smoking rates by age group, 2012 to 2019

One striking observation: older populations (65+) show far less change, with roughly 15% continuing to smoke each year. This highlights the persistence of smoking habits among elderly groups, compared to younger Scots who are quitting at faster rates.

Other Population Groups

Beyond age, we can compare smoking rates among different social groups—such as pensioners, parents, and by gender.

Chart comparing smoking rates across population groups including pensioners and households with children

Key findings:

Men smoke more than the national average.
Households with children also smoke more than the average.

Male vs. Female Smoking Rates

Line chart comparing male and female smoking rates in Scotland

Donut chart of the male and female share of Scottish smokers

These comparisons confirm that smoking in Scotland is more prevalent among men than women.

Smoking by Constituency

Next, we examine whether larger constituencies smoke more than smaller ones. A Pearson correlation test across constituencies initially suggested no clear relationship:

Pearson correlation between constituency population and smoking rate across all years

However, plotting data by year for each constituency gives a clearer picture. Boxplots reveal trends as well as outliers in different years.

2012

2013

Outlier: East Dunbartonshire

2014

Outliers: Clackmannanshire, East Dunbartonshire

2015

2016

Outlier: East Renfrewshire

2017

2018

Outliers: Shetland Islands, East Dunbartonshire

2019

The highest correlation found was in 2014 (81%), but all other years were below 50%—meaning population size was not a reliable predictor of smoking rates. Even large city constituencies showed no consistent relationship.

Correlation between population and smoking rate for the largest city constituencies

Data Tables

Below are interactive tables summarizing the dataset for further exploration:

2012–2019 (average)

Yearly Breakdown