Recent estimates indicate that each cigarette a person smokes could reduce their life by 20 minutes, an increase from previous estimates of 11 minutes.
If a 10-a-day smoker quits on 1 January, they could potentially “prevent loss of a full day of life” by 8 January. And by 20 February, they could extend their lives by a whole week. If successful in quitting until 5 August, they could potentially live a month longer than if they had continued smoking.
This data comes from research commissioned by the Department for Health and Social Care and conducted by University College London (UCL) researchers. On average, a man loses 17 minutes of life with each cigarette smoked, while a woman loses 22 minutes.
Researchers emphasize that the damage caused by smoking is cumulative and that quitting sooner and avoiding cigarettes can lead to a longer life.
The analysis suggests that smokers typically lose both healthy and total years of life, with the impact primarily affecting the middle years rather than the later stage of life marked by illness or disability. It is estimated that smokers in Britain lose approximately 20 minutes of life expectancy with each cigarette smoked, time that would likely be spent in good health.
The decline in smoking rates in the UK has been driven by people quitting smoking, with a high number of former smokers recorded in recent years. Over half of current smokers in 2023 expressed intentions to quit.
Another contributing factor to the decline in smoking rates is the use of e-cigarettes, with an estimated 5.1 million people in Great Britain currently using them.
Dr. Sarah Jackson from the UCL Alcohol and Tobacco Research Group emphasizes the importance of understanding how quitting smoking can improve life expectancy. Public health minister Andrew Gwynne also highlights the need to quit smoking due to its expensive and deadly nature.