Although media coverage of the UK’s lockdowns focused on the healthy habits some people took up while stuck at home and worried about their resilience against the virus, from exercise to better diets, there was another, quieter trend: more people turning to nicotine.
To mark National No Smoking Day in March, insurance comparison site Quotezone examined a sample of 5,000 life insurance policies to gauge the prevalence of smoking. Smokers must disclose the habit when applying for life insurance cover.
Quotezone found that the number of non-smokers fell by nearly 10% between the first and second half of 2021. But the increase in smoking between the beginning and end of 2021 isn’t simply because people who gave up smoking for a New Year’s resolution fell back into the habit. The number of non-smokers previously increased across both 2019 (by 20%) and 2020 (by 8%).
Quotezone founder Greg Wilson said: “When we analysed our life insurance data, we were expecting to see a continued fall in the number of smokers and so it came as a worrying surprise that more people were smoking than before the pandemic.”
Money Expert – 2022-04-14
Want More Investigative Content?
