Member

In response to claims of growth in the illicit market, the latest official data from HMRC, published in 2024, does not show an overall increase in the illicit market for tobacco up to 2022-23. History shows that when we have introduced targeted tobacco control measures, they have had a positive impact on tackling the problems of illicit tobacco. When the smoking age was increased from 16 to 18, the number of illicit cigarettes consumed fell by 25% and smoking rates for 16 and 17-year-olds dropped by almost a third.