The Economic Cost of Smoking: How Much is Your Habit Really Costing You?

Smoking has always been detrimental to your health, but in recent decades, it has also become extremely harmful to your wallet. If you live an ‘average’ life in the UK with a moderate income, smoking is almost certainly affecting your quality of life not just through health concerns but also through expense. 

With the cost of cigarettes rising steadily and frequently, you are probably fully aware of how much your smoking habit is costing you. In the unlikely event that you don’t, this short blog post will explain the financial impact of smoking in more detail before presenting a far cheaper, healthier alternative to smoking towards the end.

But first, let’s look at the precise cost of smoking in the UK. 

The Daily and Annual Financial Costs of Smoking

As of 2024, the average price of a pack of 20 cigarettes in the UK is a staggering £15.67, a figure that smokers would have found laughable just two decades ago.

This means that for someone who smokes just 10 cigarettes a day, smoking costs around £7.83 daily, £235.05 monthly, and an incredible £2,820.60 annually. For context, that equates to a three-week holiday in the Bahamas that smokers are consuming each and every year.

It becomes even more startling when accounting for smokers who blaze through an entire pack each day. In this case, the expense is £15.67 daily, £470.10 monthly, and £5,641.20 annually. That’s a second-hand Rolex or a small home extension every year.

For heavy smokers consuming 40 cigarettes a day, the cost becomes difficult to apprehend at a mind-blowing £11,282.40 per year. To put things into perspective, that’s a five-year-old, well-maintained, low-mileage Vauxhall Astra you are inhaling each and every year.

Better & Cheaper Alternative

To be candid, these examples probably fail to convince you how absurd smoking is because the fact is, you already know. Smoking is one of the most pointless habits in existence that offers so little in return for the expense and health issues associated with it.

The key word here is ‘addicted’. Your body has grown used to the nicotine and now needs it to function normally. Most smokers are also reliant on the experience of smoking, with cigarettes becoming a crutch over time. Smoking is probably a habit you can ill afford and would prefer to stop but find it difficult to do so.

However, with NEAFS, you can replicate the experience of smoking and obtain your nicotine fix for a mere fraction of the price. Through our clever heat-not-burn technology, NEAFS products heat our unique cellulose blend using an electronic heat-control system in order to avoid burning. 

Unique Design

Because no burning or combustion is involved, NEAFS products produce no ash, tar, or smoke. Instead, they use specially designed heating systems to generate an aerosol-based on Propylene Glycol and Vegetable Glycerin, which users can inhale. 

NEAFS feels almost exactly like smoking, with both nicotine and nicotine-free options and costs far less than expensive tobacco cigarettes. Below, we are going to demonstrate the cost difference by using our NEAFS cost-saving calculator. 

NEAFS VS Cigarettes

The fact is, switching to NEAFS will result in huge savings without compromising on nicotine or the sensation of smoking. Let’s take a look at the figures.

Switching to NEAFS will lead to huge savings. Priced at £49.99 for 200 sticks (or £4.99 per pack of 20), someone who is using 10 NEAFS sticks daily would pay approximately £2.50 per day, £75 monthly, and £912.50 annually.  Quite a striking difference, you might agree.

For anyone using a pack a day, the annual cost would be £1,825, resulting in savings of £3,431 compared to traditional cigarettes. Even heavy smokers would see their yearly expenses drop significantly to £3,650, saving £6,862 annually.

Hidden Costs of Smoking

Aside from the direct cost of purchasing cigarettes, smokers also face a wide range of hidden expenses, including higher life and health insurance premiums, increased medical bills due to smoking-related illnesses, and lost income from time taken off work. 

Smokers often pay more for insurance – sometimes up to double the premiums of non-smokers. Additionally, treating smoking-related diseases can result in substantial out-of-pocket expenses, adding to the wider financial burden. 

Economic Impact of Smoking

The cost of smoking in the UK is more than just a burden on yourself, of course – smoking also imposes a heavy economic toll on society. 

The UK government spends billions annually on healthcare costs related to smoking – with current estimates somewhere around £2.5 billion – in addition to social care services costing upwards of £760 million. Lost productivity due to smoking-related illnesses further strains the economy, with businesses bearing the weight of reduced workforce productivity and increased sick days.

Bottom Line

Smoking is now a legitimately expensive habit that most people can no longer afford and is becoming more expensive every year. The average cost of a packet of cigarettes these days is truly quite shocking when compared to just a few decades ago. 

Switching to NEAFS will greatly reduce the financial strain of smoking while offering a safer and possibly more enjoyable alternative. With the potential to save thousands of pounds annually and improve your health, using NEAFS instead of cigarettes makes good logical sense.

Make the jump today, and you will benefit from both economic and health benefits immediately. Check out our NEAFS starter bundles for nicotine and nicotine-free options!