Searches For Quitting Smoking Nearly Triple, Research Reveals

The number of people quitting combustible cigarettes seems to be growing in the UK during the coronavirus lockdown, new research reveals.

The study by smoking cessation advocates Vape Club shows that the average annual Google searches increasing from 37,200 to 100,440 since restrictions began, according to a story in Talking Retail.

‘How to quit smoking’ is Googled an average of 37,200 times per year in the UK, but since 26 April the number of average monthly searches has pushed the yearly average to 100,440, an increase of 62,800.

The similar phrase ‘how to stop smoking’ has seen a comparably sharp increase of 40 percent in the past month in the UK. There are 31,200 searches on average per year, which has increased to an average of 43,680 with last month’s search figures.

In addition, searches for ‘NHS stop smoking service’ have increased by 120 percent in the same period.

Dan Marchant, director at Vape Club and member of the UK Vaping Industry Association, said: “The volume of people turning to Google searches for advice suggests that greater support and clearer information should be made available. I’d like to see stop smoking services reaching out to the most vulnerable and hard-to-reach in society, as there’s clearly a desire to quit with the right support. With vaping being the most effective form of smoking cessation, it’s important that it is presented as an effective quitting tool.”