LONDON, March 8 (Xinhua) -- Cigarette smoking in Britain is more common among out-of-work people seeking jobs and those earning less than 10,000 pounds a year, a report released Tuesday by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) reveals.
The ONS study shows the total number of smoking in Britain has fallen from over 20 percent in 2010 to a record low of 12.5 percent. The number of smokers in England stands at 16.9 percent, while Scotland has the highest proportion at 19.1 percent.
The latest figures also show that 2.3 million people in Britain now use e-cigarettes, half of them saying they "vape" as a means to quit smoking.
The report, compiled with Public Health England, says smoking is a leading cause of preventable death in Britain, linking to almost 80,000 preventable deaths in 2014.
Exposure to second-hand smoke, known as passive smoking, can also lead to a range of diseases, many of which are fatal, with children especially vulnerable to the effects of passive smoking, according to the report.
A study by Oxford University has also revealed that smoking costs the British national health service billions of U.S. dollars every year.
Scotland, home to the highest proportion of smokers, has set an ambitious target of reducing the number of cigarette users to 5 percent of the population by 2034 as part of a "Tobacco Free Scotland" project.
