Smoking kills more than 6m people in UK

Smoking has killed 6.3 million people – close to the current population of London – across the UK during the past 50 years, latest figures have suggested.

The study for Cancer Research UK by Sir Richard Peto, professor of medical statistics at the University of Oxford, found that between 1950 and 2000, 42% of deaths in middle age (35-69) in men were caused by smoking, peaking in the 1960s.

Over the same period, smoking caused 16% of deaths in middle age in UK women, peaking in the late 1980s.

Smoking continues to cause proportionally more cancer deaths in Scotland than in England and Wales, said the charity.

Sign up to our weekly round-up of HR news and guidance

Receive the Personnel Today Direct e-newsletter every Wednesday

Email(Required)

OptOut

From time to time, we will send you emails about selected products, events and services from Personnel Today and OHW+ - but you can choose to opt-out at any time. If you do not wish to receive these emails, please tick this box.

Name

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Δ

In 2000, smoking still caused 42% of deaths among Scottish men from cancer, compared with 35% in England and Wales.

In women, smoking caused 28% of deaths from cancer in Scotland, compared with 20% in England and Wales.