Cash-strapped Sheffield smokers using illegal cigarettes

An independent report released by KPMG and commissioned by Philip Morris International, shows the consumption of counterfeit and contraband cigarettes in the UK rose by 4.2 per cent in 2021 - the biggest annual rise of the last five years.

One in five cigarettes smoked is now said to be illegal.

Yorkshire and The Humber is the region with the second highest consumption of the contraband products after the North East.

In view of this, Philip Morris Limited (PML) has voiced concern that with the UK ranking second for the volume of illicit cigarettes consumed, efforts to switch UK smokers towards better, smoke-free alternatives are being hampered by readily available illicit products.

The study indicates that organised criminal groups have shifted their focus towards manufacturing counterfeit cigarettes directly within EU borders.

Interviews conducted by KPMG with seven different law enforcement agencies found that illegal manufacturing sites are increasingly moving west in Europe to get closer to higher-priced end markets, such as the UK and France.

The continued growth of a black market where fake and unregulated cigarettes are readily available seriously undercuts legitimate efforts to reduce and eventually eliminate cigarette smoking, PML added.

Illegal cigarettes contain contaminants

Christian Woolfenden, UK Managing Director of PML said: "Around 14 per cent of the UK adult population still smokes – that’s 6.7 million people.

"The news that almost one in five cigarettes smoked in the UK is now illicit should be a wake-up call to everyone involved in clamping down on those who make or sell illicit cigarettes.

"Like anyone else, smokers are facing tough choices in their spending, so there’s an increasing risk that they’ll turn to illicit cigarettes.

"Now more than ever, we need to ensure smokers have greater access to – and information about – smoke-free alternatives or else we risk the illicit market undermining the UK’s efforts to go smoke-free."

Illicit tobacco consultant Will O’Reilly, a former Scotland Yard Detective Chief Inspector, said: "Illicit cigarettes fall a long way short of the quality and safety standards UK smokers expect.

"They pose a risk to people’s homes in terms of housefires and they’ve been found to contain contaminants, such as mites, insect eggs, fungi and even faeces."

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