Spotlight on Longevity April 2015: Smoking habits - the impact on mortality improvements

The adverse impact of smoking on life expectancy has been widely-recognised for many years. Our analysis suggests that – for the ages of most interest to annuitant and pensioner portfolios – around 20% of the observed improvements in UK mortality in recent decades can be attributed to reductions in smoking.

As past reductions cannot be repeated, we might therefore expect lower mortality improvements in the future.

Our Longevity services team produces regular commentaries on topical issues in the management and transfer of longevity risk known as 'Spotlight on Longevity'.

To obtain copies of Spotlights, or for more information, please contact the author.