Thank you for your recent email to the Department of Health about the revenue generated from tobacco sales. I have been asked to reply.

It is very difficult to establish an exact figure on what smoking related ill-health costs the NHS. However, smoking is the largest single cause of preventable illness and premature death in the UK. It kills 106,000 people every year and costs the British taxpayer more than £1.7billion a year in treatment bills alone. It causes 84 per cent of deaths from lung cancer and 83 per cent of deaths from chronic obstructive lung disease, including bronchitis.

The revenue generated from tobacco products is a matter for HM Treasury. However, it should be noted that the Government, as a whole, has made the decision to reduce smoking rates in England. In 2004, the Government agreed an overarching target to reduce smoking substantially from 25 per cent in 2004 to 21 per cent or less by 2010 and to reduce smoking among routine and manual groups to 26 per cent or less. The Government expects that reducing smoking rates will lead to a loss of revenue to the Exchequer. However, any loss to the Exchequer is balanced by the fact that thousands of lives are saved through the Government’s tobacco control strategy.