1. The cost of smoking in England: data from the Smoking Toolkit Study
Robert West
Last updated: 20 September 2009

2. Methods
Smoking Toolkit Study: a series of national household surveys of representative samples of approximately 1700 adults aged 16+ in England with a special focus on the ~500 who have smoked within the past year
Sample weighted to match census on demographics
Computer-assisted interviews
Focus on smoking, smoking reduction and smoking cessation activities

3. What smokers pay for their cigarettes
Questions asked from October 2007 to June 2009
N=7721
Mean spend: £20.01 pw
No trend over time
Lower social grades pay less per cigarette largely because of use of Roll-Your-Own but have higher cigarette consumption and spend less per week on smoking overall
Regression analysis
Dependent variable: daily cost of smoking
Predictors: manufactured cpd, RYO cpd
Multiple R: 0.92
The average cost of 20 cigarettes:
manufactured £4.80
RYO £1.90

4. Buying cheap cigarettes
Sample: 1180 smokers: March to May 08
Measure:
Illicit source: person in pub, street, trusted local source, friend
Abroad: brought back from overseas
Lower social grades more likely to buy from illicit source, higher social grades more likely to bring back from abroad
Figures for illicit purchase are likely to under-estimate because of sampling bias towards high social responsibility
Questions supplied and study funded and implemented by ASH

5. Cost of smuggled cigarettes
Mean cost per cigarette in those who smoke no illicit cigs: 27p
Mean cost per cigarette in those who smoke at least some illicit cigs: 20p
But partly accounted for by higher use of RYO in smokers of smuggled cigs
Adjusting for percentage of cigs that are RYO
difference in cost per 20 cigs in those who smoke only licit and those who smoke at least some illicit cigs: 52p

6. Conclusions
Licit roll-your-own cigarettes are half the cost of manufactured cigarettes
Smokers from lower social grades smoke more illicit cigarettes and so pay less to smoke than higher social grade smokers despite smoking more cigarettes
The cost of smoking is further reduced by an average of 52p per 20 in those who smoke at least some smuggled cigarettes
Raising duty on roll-your-own tobacco and making further efforts to control smuggling are probably the most important tobacco control measures that the government can adopt, particularly with a view to reducing health inequalities