Respondents aged 16 and over were asked whether they had used tobacco or related products (including water pipes, heated tobacco, chewing tobacco, e-cigarettes with or without nicotine, and nicotine pouches) in the last 12 months, and how often they had an alcoholic drink of any kind. Answer options for both tobacco and alcohol consumption were: yes, daily; yes, a few times a week; yes, a few times a month; yes, a few times a year; and not at all. For this analysis, responses for tobacco are grouped as: ‘daily’, ‘occasionally’ (a few times a week, month, or year), and ‘not at all’, with alcohol responses grouped as 'a few times a week or more’, ‘a few times a month or less’, and ‘not at all’. Because the SILC question covers tobacco, nicotine and vaping products together, ‘tobacco use’ in this chapter refers to any of these products. Unless otherwise stated, all figures refer to people aged 16 and over.
The results show how the frequency of tobacco and alcohol consumption varies by household and individual circumstances, including poverty and deprivation status and equivalised income quintile.
Daily tobacco use in 2025 was more common among people experiencing poverty or deprivation. Among those in consistent poverty, it was 27.3% in 2025, compared to 11.7% of all people.
The CSO's Irish Health Survey (IHS) and the Department of Health's Healthy Ireland Survey (HIS) also collect data on smoking, vaping, and alcohol consumption, and are the main sources for headline national rates on these behaviours. SILC figures are not directly comparable to either survey, differences being reflected in how products are defined and grouped, in age coverage, in answer categories, in reference period and fieldwork timing, and in survey mode. The value of the SILC data lies instead in its ability to analyse these behaviours by poverty, deprivation, and income, which the IHS and HIS do not provide. For more information please see Background Notes.
In 2025, 11.7% of SILC respondents, aged 16 years and over, reported using tobacco, vaping, and nicotine products daily, up from 9.3% in 2022, while occasional tobacco use increased from 3.2% to 3.7%. Over the same period, the proportion which reported no tobacco use decreased from 87.5% to 84.6%. See figure 5.1 and table 5.1.
In the Irish Health Survey 2025, one in eight (11.9%) people reported smoking daily and 6.9% reported vaping daily. Trends from the Healthy Ireland Survey show smoking prevalence broadly stable between 2022 and 2025, while e-cigarette use increased. As the SILC measure includes e-cigarettes and other nicotine products, the increase in daily use recorded in SILC may partly reflect this shift.
In 2025, 24.2% of people reported having an alcoholic drink a few times a week or more, down from 28.5% in 2022. The proportion of respondents drinking a few times a month or less increased from 46.7% to 48.7%, while the proportion of those who never consumed an alcoholic drink increased from 24.7% to 27.0%. See figure 5.2 and table 5.2.
In 2025, daily tobacco use was more common among people experiencing poverty or deprivation. Among people at risk of poverty, daily tobacco use was 16.3% in 2025 and among those experiencing enforced deprivation, it was 22.0%. Most frequent use was recorded among people in consistent poverty, where daily tobacco use was 27.3% in 2025. As a result, daily tobacco use among people in consistent poverty in 2025 was more than twice the rate for all people (11.7%). See figure 5.3 and table 5.1.
In 2025, people experiencing poverty or deprivation were less likely to drink alcohol a few times a week or more and more likely to not drink alcohol at all. Among people at risk of poverty, 16.5% drank alcohol a few times a week or more, compared with 19.6% in 2022, while 45.6% reported never consuming alcohol, up from 41.0%. Among people experiencing enforced deprivation, the proportion drinking alcohol a few times a week or more fell from 18.4% to 14.2%, while the proportion who did not drink alcohol at all increased from 36.4% to 38.6%. This pattern was similar among people in consistent poverty where weekly drinking fell from 18.2% to 12.7%, while the proportion who did not drink at all increased from 42.1% to 49.0%. See figure 5.4 and table 5.2.
In 2025, there was a clear relationship between tobacco use and income quintile. Daily tobacco use fell with each income quintile, from 15.1% in quintile 1 to 6.7% in quintile 5. Daily tobacco use increased between 2022 and 2025 in every income quintile, with the largest increase in quintile 3, rising from 7.3% to 12.9%, up of 5.6 percentage points. See figure 5.5 and table 5.3.
Weekly alcohol consumption rose with income in 2025, with the proportion of people consuming an alcoholic drink a few times a week or more increasing from 16.4% in income quintile 1 to 32.7% in quintile 5. Drinking multiple times a week fell in every income quintile between 2022 and 2025. The largest fall was in quintile 3, from 30.9% to 22.2%, down 8.6 percentage points. The reverse was true for not drinking at all, which was most common in quintile 1, at 40.7% in 2025, compared with 17.2% among those in quintile 5. See figure 5.6 and table 5.4.
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