The London borough of Richmond upon Thames has been ranked as the UK area with the lowest proportion of current smokers, according to new findings.

A recent report from Now Patient collated data from health authorities, Finger Tips in England, Public Health Wales, Public Health Scotland, the Department of Health in Northern Ireland and the National Census of 2021 to find out which areas in the UK have the highest and lowest number of active smokers.

Richmond claim top spot with only 5.9% of its population currently actively smoking, impressive as the London borough also has the largest population in the top three list, with Wokingham second at 8.2% followed by East Dunbartonshire and Oxford with a joint 8.3%.

Lowest proportion of smokers in UK local authorities (Credit: NowPatient)

Down the other end of the table, Kingston upon Hull and Lincoln share the unwanted first place for the highest number of smokers at 26.1%, with Barking and Dagenham next with 22.4% and Dundee City with 21.8%.

Highest proportion of smokers in UK local authorities (Credit: NowPatient)

Despite loosing top spot, Richmond borough also featured in the top three local authorities for the lowest number of smoke related deaths, with 113 per 100,000 of its population. West London borough Harrow ranked first with 103 followed by Wokingham with 108.

The fact that Richmond finished third despite being found to have the lowest proportion of smokers indicates there are more factors involved in smoking-related deaths than the numbers.

Glasgow currently sees the highest number of smoke related deaths with 509 per 100,000 people, followed by Dundee City (448) and Kingston upon Hull (420).

Top 20 local authorities in the UK with the lowest number of smoking-related deaths (Credit: NowPatient)

Statistics from the most recent National Census showed that 13.3% of people over the age of 18 in the UK are active smokers, 6.6 million people, which is the lowest proportion of adults since the data began being collected in 2011. 

It was also found that once again men are more likely to smoke than women, with 15.1% of men being smokers compared to just 11.5% of women.