NHS: Costs
(asked on 15th June 2026) - View Source
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate she has made of the cost to the NHS of treating conditions (a) caused and (b) exacerbated by (i) tobacco, (ii) alcohol and (iii) drug use.
The available estimates of the cost to the National Health Service of treating conditions caused and exacerbated by tobacco and alcohol are shown in the following table:
Substance | Estimated NHS cost | Source of Estimate |
Tobacco | £1.8 billion annually | Action on Smoking and Health, 2025 |
Alcohol | £4.9 billion annually | Institute of Alcohol Studies, 2021/22 |
Smoking is estimated to cost society £21.9 billion per year in England.
Estimates for drug use are more limited but based on data from the Office for National Statistics and the independent review of drugs by Professor Dame Carol Black, the harms associated with wholly drug-related hospital admissions are estimated at £37 million. This cost includes admissions for mental and behavioural disorders, overdoses and poisonings, and drug-related neonatal disorders.
Comparisons of costs should not be made between estimates above because of the different methodologies used in their construction.