Smokers each lose an average of 30 minutes a day from their work to satisfy their habit.
A report out today says the average smoker takes at least three breaks, each of around 10 minutes.
Hundreds of thousands of workers take cigarette breaks of more than half an hour a day - often leaving the office seven times to smoke, said the report.
Healthcare group the Benenden Healthcare Society says 290,000 working days are being lost.
A Benenden Healthcare spokesman said: "Non-smokers feel smokers get away with avoiding work, and this report will only confirm their suspicions."
Smokers in the North take most breaks, with just 13% lasting the day without a cigarette break, compared to a third in the Midlands and a fifth in the South, the survey of 1000 adults found.
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