Trends in non-daily cigarette smoking in England, 2006-2024

Background: Cigarette smoking is incredibly harmful, even for people who do not smoke every day. This study aimed to estimate trends in non-daily smoking in England between 2006 and 2024, how these differed across population subgroups, and to explore changes in the profile of non-daily smokers in terms of their sociodemographic and smoking characteristics and vaping and alcohol consumption. Methods: Data were collected monthly between November-2006 and April-2024 as part of a nationally-representative, repeat cross-sectional survey of adults (≥18y; n=353,711). We used logistic regression to estimate associations between survey wave and non-daily smoking and used descriptive statistics to characterise the profile of non-daily smokers across 3-year periods. Results: The proportion of cigarette smokers who smoked non-daily was relatively stable between November-2006 and November-2013, at an average of 10.5% [10.1-10.9%], then increased to 27.2% [26.0-28.4%] (4.0% [3.7-4.2%] of adults) by April-2024. This increase was particularly pronounced among younger adults (e.g., reaching 52.8%, 20.4%, and 14.4% of 18-, 45-, and 65-year-old cigarette smokers by April-2024) and those who vape (reaching 34.2% vs. 23.1% among non-vapers). Over time, there were reductions in non-daily smokers' mean weekly cigarette consumption (from 34.3 in 2006-09 to 21.1 in 2021-24), urges to smoke (e.g., the proportion reporting no urges increased from 29.2% to 38.0%), and motivation to stop smoking (e.g., the proportion highly motivated to quit within the next three months decreased from 30.8% to 21.0%). Conclusions: An increasing proportion of adults in England who smoke cigarettes do not smoke every day, particularly younger adults. Although non-daily smokers report smoking fewer cigarettes and weaker urges to smoke than they used to, which may make it easier for them to stop smoking, they appear to be decreasingly motivated to quit.