Why Did London Seem Full of Smokers? The Surprising U.S.–UK Nicotine Divide

One thing caught me completely off guard during a recent trip to London to watch our son play American Football at Wembley Stadium.

People were smoking—and vaping—everywhere.

London was fantastic. But walking around the city, sitting outside pubs and restaurants, and passing Tube stations, I was struck by how visible nicotine use seemed compared with what I'm accustomed to seeing in the United States.

It made me wonder: Did America simply do a better job educating people about the dangers of smoking?

The answer is more complicated.

America and Britain Took Different Paths

The United States has spent decades aggressively discouraging cigarette smoking through taxes, advertising restrictions, smoke-free laws, graphic health warnings, and public-health campaigns.

That effort has coincided with a dramatic decline in smoking. In 2024, about 9.9% of U.S. adults smoked cigarettes.

But Britain has also made enormous progress. In 2024, only 10.6% of UK adults smoked, the lowest rate since comparable records began in 2011.

So London wasn't necessarily evidence that Britain doesn't understand the dangers of smoking.

There is another important difference.

The Big Difference: Vaping

Britain has generally viewed vaping through a harm-reduction lens.

The UK's public-health guidance has emphasized that vaping is substantially less harmful than smoking and can help adult smokers quit. The message has essentially been: If you smoke, switching completely to vaping can reduce your exposure to the harms of cigarettes. If you don't smoke, don't start vaping.

That creates a very different public environment.

And the numbers show it. In Great Britain, approximately 5.4 million adults used e-cigarettes in 2024, slightly more than the number of current cigarette smokers.

So some of what you see on a London sidewalk isn't necessarily traditional cigarette smoking. It's a visible vaping culture that developed partly because vaping was promoted as a tool for smokers trying to quit.

But Europe Isn't One Big Smoking Culture

There's another misconception worth clearing up.

Europe isn't a single country with a single tobacco policy.

Smoking rates vary enormously from country to country. Across the WHO European Region, about 24.1% of adults used tobacco in 2024, the highest regional prevalence in the world. But the UK was considerably lower, at about 13% using tobacco in the WHO's age-standardized comparison.

And Britain is now tightening its approach even further.

The Tobacco and Vapes Act 2026 became law in April. Beginning January 1, 2027, it will be illegal in England and Wales to sell tobacco products to anyone born on or after January 1, 2009.

The Longevity Lesson

Whether it's cigarettes, cigars, or vaping, nicotine addiction can become a surprisingly powerful part of daily life.

For those of us thinking about longevity, the lesson isn't really about America versus Britain.

It's about recognizing that the best nicotine strategy is ultimately the one that moves you away from dependence—not simply toward a different delivery system.

And sometimes traveling gives you a fascinating reminder of just how differently other cultures approach the same health problem.

Subscribe to 10-Minute Longevity for practical, science-informed strategies to help you live healthier, stay active, and add more good years to your life.