British Columbia

Smoking prevalence

$104.96 In 2015, smoking prevalence in British Columbia was 10.2%, below the national average of 13.0%, and the lowest of all provinces.

Figure 2.3 (below) shows smoking prevalence, overall and by sex, in British Columbia from 1999-2015. Overall, prevalence appeared to slowly decline during this time, although little progress was made throughout much of the 2000s. Males had similar or greater prevalence than females in all years observed, although with year-to-year variation.

Tobacco Use Monitoring Survey 1999-2012; Canadian Tobacco, Alcohol and Drugs Survey, 2013, 2015. See data table with 95% confidence intervals below.

Figure 2.3 data table with 95% confidence intervals

Current smoking prevalence* by sex, British Columbia, 1999-2015
	BC	Males	Females
1999	20.0	20.8	19.2
2000	19.6	21.6	17.7
2001	16.7 [14.6-18.7]	17.1 [13.7-20.5]	16.2 [13.1-19.3]
2002	16.5 [14.4-18.6]	18.8 [15.6-22.0]	14.2 [11.6-16.8]
2003	16.4 [14.6-18.3]	17.1 [14.1-20.1]	15.8 [13.5-18.1]
2004	15.2 [13.3-17.1]	16.6 [13.7-19.5]	13.9 [11.4-16.4]
2005	14.7 [12.7-16.7]	17.2 [14.2-20.3]	12.2 [9.9-14.5]
2006	16.4 [14.2-18.5]	17.6 [14.3-21.0]	15.1 [12.7-17.5]
2007	14.4 [12.5-16.4]	17.9 [14.6-21.1]	11.1 [8.9-13.3]
2008	14.7 [12.8-16.6]	17.0 [13.9-20.1]	12.5 [10.0-15.0]
2009	14.9 [12.8-17.0]	16 [12.9-19.0]	13.8 [10.9-16.6]
2010	14.3 [12.2-16.4]	14.8 [11.9-17.7]	13.7 [10.8-16.6]
2011	14.2 [11.9-16.5]	11.0 [8.4-13.5]	17.6 [13.7-21.4]
2012	13.2 [10.9-15.6]	15.2 [11.1-19.3]	11.3 [8.7-14.0]
2013	12.9 [10.9-15.0]	14.8 [11.8-17.8]	11 [8.8-13.1]
2015	10.2 [8.4-12.0]	12.2 [9.4-15.1]	8.2 [6.0-10.3]

*Includes daily and non-daily smokers

Data sources: Canadian Tobacco Use Monitoring Survey, 1999-2012; Canadian Tobacco, Alcohol and Drugs Survey, 2013, 2015.

Figure 2.4 shows smoking prevalence by age group in British Columbia, from 1999-2015. During this time period, there was a net decrease in smoking prevalence in all age groups, despite fluctuations; this decrease was largest among the younger age groups, and smallest among those over 45. Declines have slowed in most age groups in the most recent years.

Figure 2.4 data table with 95% confidence intervals

Current smoking prevalence* by age group, British Columbia, 1999-2015.
	15-19	20-24	25-44	45+	Overall
1999	20.2	29.0	26.0	12.9	20.0
2000	18.0	28.5	23.8	14.6	19.6
2001	16.8 [13.4-20.2]	27.0 [22.4-31.6]	18.9 [15.0-22.8]	12.9 [10.1-15.7]	16.7 [14.6-18.7]
2002	14.8 [11.8-17.9]	22.0 [18.0-25.9]	20.9 [16.5-25.3]	12.3 [9.4-15.1]	16.5 [14.4-18.6]
2003	13.5 [10.7-16.4]	19.5 [15.5-23.6]	21.2 [17.3-25.0]	12.7 [10.3-15.1]	16.4 [14.6-18.3]
2004	12.8 [9.4-16.2]	26.5 [21.1-31.9]	16.3 [12.9-19.7]	12.9 [10.0-15.7]	15.2 [13.3-17.1]
2005	14.4 [10.8-18.0]	24.0 [19.4-28.5]	17.8 [13.6-21.9]	10.9 [8.2-13.6]	14.7 [12.7-16.7]
2006	12.4 [9.2-15.7]	24.0 [19.5-28.5]	19.7 [15.5-23.8]	13.3 [10.7-16.0]	16.4 [14.2-18.5]
2007	9.0 [6.3-11.7]	18.2 [13.3-23.2]	15.3 [11.2-19.5]	14.0 [11.4-16.6]	14.4 [12.5-16.4]
2008	15.2 [11.6-18.7]	21.0 [16.1-25.9]	14.7 [10.5-18.9]	13.6 [10.8-16.4]	14.7 [12.8-16.6]
2009	12.5 [9.0-16.0]	17.8 [13.3-22.3]	21.0 [15.7-26.4]	10.7 [8.4-13.0]	14.9 [12.8-17.0]
2010	8.9 [6.0-11.9]	24.6 [19.4-29.8]	15.9 [10.9-20.9]	12.3 [9.8-14.8]	14.3 [12.2-16.4]
2011	10.1 [6.7-13.6]	13.1 [9.2-17.1]	16.6 [11.3-21.8]	13.5 [10.8-16.2]	14.2 [11.9-16.5]
2012	9.6 [6.8-12.5]	16.1 [11.6-20.5]	20.0 [14.0-26.0]	9.2 [6.7-11.6]	13.2 [10.9-15.6]
2013	9.5 [5.2-13.8] #	11.4 [6.6-16.1] #	14.2 [8.3-20.2] #	10 [7.5-12.6]	11.4 [9.1-13.8]
2015	!	13.8 [9.1-18.6]	13.4 [9.2-17.5]	8.2 [6.0-10.3]	10.2 [8.4-12.0]

* Includes daily and non-daily smokers
# Caution: these estimates do not meet Statistics Canada's quality standards. Conclusions based on these data will be unreliable, and most likely invalid.
! Estimate suppressed due to unacceptable quality.
Data sources: Canadian Tobacco Use Monitoring Survey, 1999-2012; Canadian Tobacco, Alcohol and Drugs Survey, 2013, 2015.

Cigarette consumption

Between 1999 and 2015, average daily cigarette consumption in British Columbia appears to have slightly decreased overall (Figure 2.5). Cigarette consumption was higher among males than females in all years, but with some year-to-year variation in the size of this difference.

Canadian Tobacco Use Monitoring Survey, 1999-2012; Canadian Tobacco, Alcohol and Drugs Survey, 2013, 2015. See data table with 95% confidence interval below.

Figure 2.5 data table with 95% confidence intervals

Average daily cigarette consumption* by sex, British Columbia, 1999-2015
	BC	Males	Females
1999	16.1	17.3	14.6
2000	14.8	16.5	12.9
2001	14.6 [13.5-15.7]	15.5 [13.2-17.8]	13.8 [10.9-16.7]
2002	16.3 [15.0-17.5]	17.7 [15.8-19.5]	14.4 [12.8-16.0]
2003	15.8 [14.3-17.4]	17.7 [15.5-20.0]	13.3 [11.9-14.7]
2004	14.5 [13.4-15.6]	15.5 [13.9-17.1]	13.3 [12.1-14.6]
2005	15.7 [13.9-17.4]	18.6 [16.2-21.1]	11.7 [9.8-13.6]
2006	15.5 [14.2-16.7]	16.1 [14.3-17.8]	14.7 [13.0-16.5]
2007	14.5 [13.2-15.8]	15.1 [13.4-16.9]	13.6 [11.5-15.6]
2008	14.1 [12.5-15.6]	15.2 [12.7-17.6]	12.6 [11.1-14.2]
2009	13.4 [12.2-14.6]	14.9 [13.3-16.5]	11.8 [10.2-13.4]
2010	15 [13.4-16.5]	16.6 [13.9-19.2]	13.5 [11.7-15.3]
2011	14.1 [11.6-16.6]	15.9 [12.1-19.6]	10.9 [9.4-12.3]
2012	12.9 [11.3-14.5]	13.9 [11.6-16.2]	11.5 [9.7-13.2]
2013	12.9 [10.9-15.0]	14.8 [11.8-17.8]	11 [8.8-13.1]
2015	14.8 [12.6-17.0]	16.7 [13.4-20.0]	12.0 [9.9-14.0]