We all know that smoking is bad for you – but it’s not just individual smokers who suffer the consequences of their habit.
In 2004, the West Midlands Public Health Steering Group (WMPHSG) commissioned a study to model the economic costs of smoking on the regional economy.
The report found that the total cost of treating smokers and the effects of premature death, ill health and loss of productivity amounted to more than £1.25bn in 2001 alone.
Smoking Costs is an economic planning tool that allows you to calculate the costs of smoking on your local economy.
The Smoking Costs model is based on the WMPHSG report and takes into account smoking prevalence rates and the socio-economic profile of smokers and the wider workforce and calculates the costs of smoking on a particular local economy.
The Smoking Costs model has now been applied to the Yorkshire and Humberside region and will shortly be available for the North East region.
You can read a summary of our original West Midlands research or download a copy of the full report. A description of the research methodologies, data sources and assumptions made by Smoking Costs are given in our explanatory notes.
By reading the instructions for using Smoking Costs, you can then calculate the costs of smoking on your local economy.
If you have any comments or queries regarding any aspect of Smoking
Costs, please fill in our feedback form or email us at info@smokingcosts.org