Record Number of UK Smokers bought illegal tobacco in 2024
A survey of 12,000 smokers commissioned by the Tobacco Manufacturers’ Association (TMA), has highlighted the scale of the illegal tobacco market in the UK.
The survey has pointed to five central findings:
83% of respondents bought tobacco that was not subject to UK tax – compared to 71% when the TMA first ran the survey in 2016
74% bought cheap untaxed tobacco from ‘under the counter’ retail sources at least once a month.
21% surveyed claimed to routinely buy cheap untaxed tobacco through the internet and social media sites such as Facebook (even though it is against Meta’s own terms and conditions to sell tobacco on their platforms).
20% of respondents only buy ‘branded’ cigarettes and Roll-Your-Own tobacco, even though all legal tobacco has been sold in plain packaging in the UK since 2016.
62% of respondents did not think a ‘generational ban’ on buying tobacco (i.e. no one born after 31 December 2008 would ever legally be able to buy tobacco) would be enforceable.
With the UK Government announcing that it intends to introduce another Tobacco & Vapes Bill in parliament before Christmas, the TMA wants to shine a light on the record numbers of UK smokers who are already buying illegal tobacco. The TMA have concerns that the generational ban, which would make it illegal for anyone born in 2009 or later to ever be able to buy tobacco, will only add to the issue, as the whole UK tobacco market will be pushed underground and run by organised criminals.