How has Expenditure on Nicotine Products Changed in a Fast-Evolving Marketplace? A Representative Population Survey in England, 2018-2022

Abstract

Introduction: In the last 5 years, there has been a dramatic shift in the types of nicotine products being purchased. This study aimed to estimate how much users spend on types of cigarettes and alternative nicotine products (e-cigarettes, nicotine replacement therapy (NRT), heated tobacco, and nicotine pouches) and describe changes between 2018 and 2022.

Aims and methods: Monthly representative cross-sectional survey in England. 10 323 adults who smoked cigarettes or used alternative nicotine reported their average weekly expenditure on these products, adjusted for inflation.

Results: Smokers spent £20.49 [95% CI = 20.09-20.91] on cigarettes each week (£27.66 [26.84-28.50] and £15.96 [15.49-16.28] among those who mainly smoked manufactured and hand-rolled cigarettes, respectively), e-cigarette users spent £6.30 [5.99-6.55] (£8.41 [7.17-9.78], £6.42 [5.58-7.39], and £5.93 [5.64-6.30] among those who mainly used disposable, pod, and refillable devices, respectively), NRT users £6.11 [5.53-6.69], and heated tobacco users £13.87 [9.58-20.09]. Expenditure on cigarettes grew by 10% from September 2018 to July 2020, then fell by 10% from July 2020 to June 2022. These changes coincided with a 13% reduction in cigarette consumption and a 14% increase in the proportion mainly smoking hand-rolled cigarettes. Expenditure on e-cigarettes was stable between 2018 and late 2020, then rose by 31% up to mid-2022. Expenditure on NRT increased slowly in 2018-2020 (+4%) and more quickly thereafter (+20%).

Conclusions: Inflation-adjusted expenditure on cigarettes has fallen since 2020, such that the average smoker in England currently spends the same on cigarettes each week as in 2018. This has been achieved by smoking fewer cigarettes and switching to cheaper hand-rolled cigarettes. Expenditure on alternative nicotine has increased above inflation; users spent around a third more on these products in 2022 than between 2018-2020.

Implications: People in England continue to spend substantially more on smoking cigarettes than using alternative nicotine products. The average smoker in England spends around £13 a week (~£670 a year) more than people using only e-cigarettes or NRT. The average expenditure on manufactured cigarettes is double that of hand-rolled cigarettes.

Figure 1.

Time trends in weekly inflation-adjusted expenditure, September 2018 to June 2022. Panels show trends in weighted expenditure on (A) cigarettes by smokers and (B) all alternative nicotine products, (C) e-cigarettes, and (D) licensed nicotine replacement therapy products by users of these products. Lines represent modeled weighted geometric mean expenditure over the study period. Shaded bands represent standard errors. Points represent raw weighted (geometric mean) expenditure by quarter. Corresponding estimates of expenditure without inflation adjustment are shown in Supplementary File 4, Figure S4.2. Corresponding estimates of expenditure for exclusive users and dual users (separately) are shown in Supplementary File 5, Figure S5.1 (inflation-adjusted) and Supplementary Figure S5.2 (without inflation adjustment).

Figure 2.

Time trends in weekly inflation-adjusted expenditure by main type of cigarettes/e-cigarettes used, September 2018 to June 2022. Panels show trends in weighted expenditure on (A) cigarettes, by all smokers and separately by main type of cigarettes smoked (hand-rolled, manufactured), and (B) e-cigarettes, by all e-cigarette users and separately by main device type used (disposable, refillable, and pod). Lines represent modeled weighted (geometric mean) expenditure over the study period. Shaded bands represent standard errors. Points represent raw weighted (geometric mean) expenditure by quarter. Corresponding estimates of expenditure without inflation adjustment are shown in Supplementary File 4, Figure S4.3.