Trends in cross-border and illicit tobacco purchases among people who smoke in England, 2019-2022.

ABSTRACT:

Objectives

The last 5 years have seen substantial changes in England's social and economic landscape as a result of Brexit, the COVID-19 pandemic and cost of living crisis. We aimed to examine changes in cross-border and illicit tobacco purchasing over this period.

Design

Nationally representative monthly cross-sectional survey.

Setting

England, 2019-2022.

Participants

11 232 adults (≥18 years) who smoked in the past year.

Main outcome measures

We estimated time trends in the proportion reporting purchasing tobacco from (1) cross-border and (2) illicit sources in the past 6 months.

Results

Between February 2019 and October 2022, there was a non-linear increase in the proportion of participants reporting cross-border tobacco purchases (from 5.2% to

SUBMITTER: Jackson SE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11503207 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature