Smoking and drinking alcohol (National Survey for Wales): April 2024 to March 2025
Information from the survey on adults smoking, using e-cigarettes, and drinking alcohol.
In this page
Introduction
Information about smoking, e-cigarette use and drinking alcohol is collected through the National Survey for Wales. This report is based on interviews carried out between April 2024 and March 2025.
Additional results are available in the National Survey for Wales interactive results viewer.
Main findings
- 10% of people said that they currently smoke.
- The factors linked with smoking were:
- being single
- not being religious
- being in bad health
- having a mental health condition
- having lower levels of qualifications
- renting their home
- 10% of people said that they currently use e-cigarettes; overall, 18% of people had used e-cigarettes at some point
- The factors linked with e-cigarette usage were:
- being young
- being single
- having a mental health condition
- having lower levels of qualifications
- renting property
- 15% of people said that they drink more than 14 units of alcohol per week, the upper limit in NHS guidelines.
- The factors linked with drinking alcohol above guidelines were:
- being male
- being older
- being in the white ethnic group
- being in good general health
- participating in sport
- having higher levels of qualifications
Smoking
10% of people aged 16 or over said they currently smoke, and 32% of people said they were ex-smokers.
The Annual Population Survey (Office for National Statistics) gives figures for people aged over 18 across the UK. This shows that Wales levels are similar to the UK proportion of smokers in 2024 (10.6%).
Figure 1: percentage of people who smoke, 2016 to 2025 [Note 1]
Description of figure 1: the chart shows that the percentage of people who smoke fell from 19% in 2016 to 2017 to 10% in 2024 to 2025.
Source: National Survey for Wales, Welsh Government
[Note 1] The National Survey for Wales changed mode from face-to-face to telephone data collection for April 2020 to March 2021 onwards, which may have affected results.
In 2024 to 2025, Aneurin Bevan University Health Board had the highest percentage of smokers (13%). Powys Teaching Health Board had the lowest percentage of smokers (7%). Levels in all local health boards fell between 2016 and 2025. See the 'Results viewer dashboard' for further information.
Factors linked with smoking
The relationships between smoking and various factors were explored using statistical techniques (see the 'Quality and methodology information'). When taking a range of other factors into account, the factors with an independent link with smoking were:
- having lower levels of qualifications
- renting property
- being in bad health
- having a mental health condition (for example, anxiety, depression)
- being single or divorced
- not being religious
- being male
Other factors included in the analysis but not found to be linked with smoking were:
- age
- long-term limiting illness
- ethnicity
- sexual orientation
- being a carer
- participation in sport
- material deprivation
- local health board
- life satisfaction
- feeling life is worthwhile
- urban/rural area classification
- economic status
Each of the factors that were found to be independently linked with smoking is discussed below.
Figure 2: percentage of people who smoke, by qualification level
Description of figure 2: the chart shows people with higher levels of qualifications were less likely to smoke. 6% of people with degree-level qualifications or above (NQF levels 4 to 8) smoked, compared with 20% of those with GCSE grades below A to C or no qualifications (NQF below level 2, or no qualifications). For definitions of qualifications, see the terms and definitions.
Source: National Survey for Wales, Welsh Government
People in social housing and private renters were most likely to smoke (23% and 17% respectively; the difference between these groups is not statistically significant). Owner occupiers (7%) were less likely to smoke than the other 2 groups.
People in bad or very bad health were more likely to smoke (22%). 8% of people in very good or good health smoked. Additionally, 24% of people with a mental health condition, such as depression or anxiety, smoked compared with 8% of people without such a condition.
15% of single people and 14% of divorced people smoked, compared with the Wales figure of 10%.
When comparing household types, people in non-pensioner single households were more likely to be smokers. 24% of people in single adult households with children smoked, as did 18% of people in single adult households without children.
People with a religion (7%) were less likely to smoke than people who were not religious (13%).
Being male had an independent link with being more likely to smoke, a difference that was only apparent after taking the other factors into account. In a simple comparison, the proportions of males and females who smoked were similar.
Other factors
16% of people in material deprivation said they smoked, compared with 9% of people not in material deprivation. However, there was no independent effect once other factors were considered. Therefore, the reasons behind this difference may be better explained by the previously-discussed factors.
E-cigarette use
The results for e-cigarette use are independent of the results for smoking.
10% of people aged 16 or over said they currently used e-cigarettes. Overall, 18% of people had used e-cigarettes at some point. For the same age group, the Office for National Statistics' Opinions and Lifestyle Survey for 2024 found that 10% of people in Great Britain use e-cigarettes.
Figure 3: percentage of people who use e-cigarettes, 2016 to 2025 [Note 1]
Description of figure 3: the chart shows that e-cigarette use stayed at similar levels of about 7% between 2016 to 2017 and 2019 to 2020. However, after a fall to 5% in 2020 to 2021 it has increased since then to 10% in 2024 to 2025.
Source: National Survey for Wales, Welsh Government
[Note 1] The National Survey for Wales changed mode from face-to-face to telephone data collection for April 2020 to March 2021 onwards, which may have affected results.
Looking at local health boards, Aneurin Bevan showed an increase in e-cigarette usage between 2016 to 2017 and 2024 to 2025, from 7% to 13%. Cwm Taf Morgannwg also showed an increase from 6% to 12% over the same period. There were no other changes by local health board over the period. It is not possible to show the numbers for Powys in 2017 to 2018, 2019 to 2020 and 2024 to 2025, due to the small sample sizes. See the 'Results viewer dashboard' for further information.
Factors linked with e-cigarette use
When taking other factors into account, factors found to be linked with e-cigarette use were:
- being young
- having lower levels of qualifications
- not being an owner-occupier
- being single
- having a mental health condition (for example, anxiety, depression)
Other factors included in the analysis but not found to be linked with e-cigarette use were:
- sex
- long-term limiting illness
- ethnicity
- religion
- sexual orientation
- general health
- being a carer
- participation in sport
- material deprivation
- local health board
- urban/rural area classification
- life satisfaction
- whether life was worthwhile
- economic status
Each of the factors that were found to be independently linked with e-cigarette use is discussed in turn below.
Younger people were more likely to use e-cigarettes. 16% of people aged 16 to 44 used e-cigarettes compared with 9% of those aged 45 to 64 and 3% of those aged 65 or more.
People with lower qualification levels were more likely to use e-cigarettes. 15% of people with qualifications lower than GCSE grades A to C, or no qualifications, used e-cigarettes compared with 7% of those with a degree or higher qualification. For definitions of qualifications see the terms and definitions.
People in social housing (23%) and people in private-rented housing (19%) were more likely than owner-occupiers (6%) to use e-cigarettes. Additionally, 18% of single people used e-cigarettes compared with 5% of those who were married or in a civil partnership.
23% of those with a mental health condition, such as depression or anxiety, used e-cigarettes compared with 8% of those who didn’t have a mental health condition.
Drinking alcohol
Typical level of drinking alcohol is often divided into 4 groups.
- Non-drinkers; those who drink no alcohol
- Moderate drinkers; those who drink some alcohol, but fewer than 15 units per week
- Hazardous drinkers; men who drink between 15 and 50 units per week and women who drink between 15 and 35 units per week
- Harmful drinkers; men who drink more than 50 units per week and women who drink more than 35 units per week
Figure 4: percentage of people in each category of alcohol drinking levels
Description of figure 4: the chart shows that 67% of people are moderate drinkers, 13% of people are hazardous drinkers, and 2% are harmful drinkers.
The analysis in this bulletin focuses primarily on people who drink more than the recommended 14 units per week (hazardous or harmful drinkers). In 2024 to 2025, 15% of people said that they drink more than 14 units of alcohol per week.
Figure 5: percentage of people who drink alcohol above guidelines, 2016 to 2025 [Note 1]
Description of figure 5: the chart shows that the percentage of people who drink alcohol above guidelines fell from 20% in 2016 to 2017 to 15% in 2024 to 2025.
Source: National Survey for Wales, Welsh Government
[Note 1] The National Survey for Wales changed mode from face-to-face to telephone data collection for April 2020 to March 2021 onwards, which may have affected results.
Powys was the local health board with the highest percentage of people drinking alcohol above guideline levels in 2024 to 2025 (20%). All other health boards showed a reduction since 2016 to 2017 in drinking above guideline levels, down to around 15% or 16% of people in 2024 to 2025. See the 'Results viewer dashboard' for further information.
Factors linked with drinking alcohol above guidelines
When taking other factors into account, factors found to be linked with drinking alcohol above guidelines were:
- being older
- being male
- having a degree or higher level qualification
- being in good general health
- being in the white ethnic group
- not having a religion
- participating in sport
Other factors included in the analysis but not found to be linked with drinking alcohol above guidelines were:
- long-term limiting illness
- marital status
- sexual orientation
- carers
- having a mental health condition
- material deprivation
- tenure
- local health board
- life satisfaction
- feeling life is worthwhile
- urban/rural area classification
Each of the factors that were found to be independently linked with drinking alcohol above guidelines is discussed in turn below.
Figure 6: percentage of people who drink alcohol above guidelines, by age group
Description of figure 6: the chart shows that people in the 16 to 44 age group (11%) were less likely to drink above guidelines than in the 45 to 64 age group (19%) and the 65 plus age group (17%).
Source: National Survey for Wales, Welsh Government
Males were more likely to drink alcohol above guidelines (22%) than females (9%).
17% of people with qualifications at degree level or higher drink alcohol above guidelines, compared with 11% of people with GCSEs below grades A to C or no qualifications. For definitions of qualifications see terms and definitions.
People in bad or very bad health (11%) were less likely to drink alcohol above guidelines compared with those who were in very good or good health (17%).
16% of people in the white ethnic group drink alcohol above guidelines (the Wales average was 10%). The sample sizes for the other ethnic groups were too small to be robust. Not being religious was also linked with drinking alcohol once other factors were considered. However, in a simple cross-analysis there was no difference between non-religious people and religious people drinking above guidelines.
People who participated in sport were more likely to drink above guidelines, with 21% of people drinking at this level, compared with 14% of people who said they did not participate in sport.
Other factors
16% of people not in material deprivation reported drinking above guidelines compared with 10% of those in material deprivation. However, after other factors were considered, there was no link between drinking above guidelines and not being in material deprivation. Therefore, the reasons behind this difference may be better explained by the previously discussed factors.
Policy context
To tackle the impacts of smoking, the Welsh Government aims for Wales to be “smoke-free” by 2030. This is defined as achieving a tobacco smoking prevalence rate in people aged 16+ of 5% or less. The Welsh Government strategy A Smoke-Free Wales sets out the 3 themes where action is being taken to reduce smoking. These themes are:
- reducing inequalities (by supporting groups of people who are more likely to smoke)
- future generations (by reducing the effect of tobacco on children and young people)
- a whole-system approach for a smoke-free Wales
To keep health risks from alcohol to a low level, the Chief Medical Officers recommend that it is safest not to drink more than 14 units a week on a regular basis. This and other strategies are outlined in Alcohol consumption: advice on low-risk drinking (Department of Health and Social Care).
Quality and methodology information
The April 2024 to March 2025 National Survey for Wales was a large-scale, random-sample telephone survey covering adults aged 16+ across Wales.
Methodology
Addresses were selected at random, and invitations sent by post requesting that a phone number be provided for the address. A phone number could be provided via an online portal or a telephone enquiry line. Where no phone number was provided, telematching was undertaken with available databases of phone numbers to see if one can be found for the address.
The interviewer then called the phone number for the address, established how many adults live there, and selected one at random (the person with the next birthday) to take part in the survey. The selected person was interviewed by phone. Once they had completed the phone section, they were asked to complete an online section and details were sent to them.
If no number was obtained for the address then for a randomly-chosen 46% of such cases the interviewer made a visit to the address to select a respondent and either carried out an in-home, face-to-face interview with them or (if a phone interview is preferred) collected a phone number for them.
The survey lasted around 40 to 45 minutes on average and covers a range of topics. Respondents were offered a £15 voucher to say thank you for taking part. The achieved sample size each month was around 500 people on average, and the response rate was 18.7% of those eligible to take part.
Survey weighting
When comparing the unweighted achieved sample with the April 2022 to March 2023 unweighted achieved sample, the April 2024 to March 2025 sample has some differences such as:
- more Welsh speakers
- fewer people aged 25 to 54
- more people aged 75+
- more people with higher-level qualifications
- fewer people with no qualifications
- fewer working people
- more people in rural areas
In terms of household type, there are more single-person households in the April 2024 to March 2025 sample and fewer couples (with or without children). There are fewer people in the areas of lowest income and employment, and more in areas where people have higher levels of qualification and skills. There is also a less even spread of interviews across the year (for example, proportionately fewer in February and March) compared with previous years.
Survey weights are used to bring the sample closer to the population in terms of age, sex, and local authority size, as well as to compensate for variation from target in the numbers of interviews in each health board within each quarter. The weights reduce but will not eliminate the effects of differences in the achieved sample compared with previous years and with the general population. As noted above, care should therefore be taken when comparing results with previous years, and any differences should be explored in the context of other sources.
Statistical analysis
This release uses regression analysis to allow us to look at the relationship with a given outcome (for example, smoking), while keeping other things constant (sometimes referred to as “controlling for other factors”). However, it does not mean that smoking is caused by these factors, or vice versa.
Where the text of this release notes a difference between 2 survey results, we have checked to ensure that the confidence intervals (sometimes called the “margin of error”) for the 2 results do not overlap. This suggests that the difference is statistically significant. For example, that there is less than a 5% or 1 in 20 chance that the results are due to a quirk of the survey sample rather than reflecting a real difference in the wider population. Where no difference is noted, the confidence intervals do overlap.
The survey questionnaire is available on our web pages.
Detailed charts and tables of results are available in our 'Results viewer dashboard'. For information on data collection and methodology please see our Quality report and Technical report.
Terms and definitions
Qualification level
People’s highest qualifications are coded by National Qualification Framework (NQF) levels, where level 1 is the lowest level of qualifications and level 8 is doctoral degree or equivalent. For reporting purposes, people were grouped into 5 categories; these were:
- NQF levels 4 to 8: higher education (Level 4+)
- NQF level 3: 'A' level and equivalent (Level 3)
- NQF level 2: GCSE grades A to C and equivalent (Level 2)
- Below NQF level 2: GCSE below grade C (below Level 2)
- No qualifications: no qualifications
More information on the terms used in the National Survey for Wales are available in our Terms and definitions report.
Statement of compliance with the Code of Practice for Statistics
Our statistical practice is regulated by the Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR). OSR sets the standards of trustworthiness, quality and value in the Code of Practice for Statistics that all producers of official statistics should adhere to.
All of our statistics are produced and published in accordance with a number of statements and protocols to enhance trustworthiness, quality and value. These are set out in the Welsh Government’s Statement of Compliance.
These official statistics in development (OSR) demonstrate the standards expected around trustworthiness, quality and public value in the following ways.
Trustworthiness
All personal data underlying these statistics is processed in accordance with the requirements of the Data Protection Act 2018.
National Survey for Wales statistics are published in an accessible, orderly, pre-announced manner on the Welsh Government website at 9:30am on the day of publication. All releases are available to download for free.
All outputs adhere to the Code of Practice by pre-announcing the date of publication through the upcoming calendar web pages. Access to the data during processing is restricted to those involved in the production of the statistics, quality assurance and for operational purposes. Pre-release access is restricted to eligible recipients in line with the Code of Practice (UK Statistics Authority).
The published figures are compiled by professional analysts using the latest available data.
Quality
As noted above, the achieved sample size for the National Survey April 2024 to March 2025 (6,000 respondents) is smaller than originally planned. The smaller sample size is due to the contractor encountering fieldwork issues including response rates being lower than in previous years. There are also changes in the composition of the achieved unweighted sample compared with previous years.
In July 2025 we therefore requested and received a temporary suspension of accredited official statistics status from the OSR; for this first release and for other outputs based on the April 2024 to March 2025 data. The temporary suspension reflects the fact that the April 2024 to March 2025 outputs generally do not provide sufficiently precise results for small geographic areas and other small subgroups, and that care should be taken in comparing some April 2024 to March 2025 results with those from previous years. All outputs based on April 2024 to March 2025 data are badged as official statistics in development.
It is still appropriate to use these statistics. At a national level, estimates continue to provide a reasonable indication of estimates for Wales, particularly if used alongside alternative sources. However, users should note the wider confidence intervals particularly for smaller geographies and population sub-groups.
All stages in the collection, validation and production of these statistics are led by professional statisticians. The statistics are produced free from any political interference. All statistics are quality-assured prior to publication.
Statistics published by Welsh Government adhere to the Statistical Quality Management Strategy. This supplements the Quality pillar of the Code of Practice for Statistics and the European Statistical System principles of quality for statistical outputs.
Set-up work for a new online-first survey design is progressing well and mainstage fieldwork will begin in March 2026, with first results due in summer 2027. One main advantage of the new approach is that it will be possible to deliver much larger achieved sample sizes, and therefore much more precise estimates for small subgroups. Following the start of mainstage fieldwork under the new design for April 2026 to March 2027, we will request that accredited official statistics badging be reinstated by OSR for survey outputs from April 2026 to March 2027 onwards.
Value
These statistics are used in a variety of ways. Some examples of these are:
- providing advice to ministers
- to inform a wide range of policy decisions
The commentary and notes in this release have been developed to try to make the information as accessible as possible to users.
You are welcome to contact us directly with any comments about how we meet these standards. Alternatively, you can contact OSR by emailing regulation@statistics.gov.uk or via the OSR website.
Well-being of Future Generations Act (WFG)
The Well-being of Future Generations Act 2015 is about improving the social, economic, environmental and cultural wellbeing of Wales. The Act puts in place seven wellbeing goals for Wales. These are for a more equal, prosperous, resilient, healthier and globally responsible Wales, with cohesive communities and a vibrant culture and thriving Welsh language. Under section (10)(1) of the Act, the Welsh Ministers must (a) publish indicators (“national indicators”) that must be applied for the purpose of measuring progress towards the achievement of the wellbeing goals, and (b) lay a copy of the national indicators before Senedd Cymru. Under section 10(8) of the Well-being of Future Generations Act, where the Welsh Ministers revise the national indicators, they must as soon as reasonably practicable (a) publish the indicators as revised and (b) lay a copy of them before the Senedd. These national indicators were laid before the Senedd in 2021. The indicators laid on 14 December 2021 replace the set laid on 16 March 2016.
Information on the indicators, along with narratives for each of the wellbeing goals and associated technical information is available in the Wellbeing of Wales report.
Further information on the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015.
There are no specific indicators related to smoking, e-cigarette and alcohol usage, however Indicator 3, percentage of adults with two or more healthy lifestyle behaviours, is related to smoking and alcohol usage. The statistics included in this bulletin provide supporting narrative to this national indicator and could be used by public services boards in relation to their local wellbeing assessments and local wellbeing plans.