The method of numerical simulation was used to study the effective lifetime of the excited level of the resonance transition in sodium and lithium vapour. Taking into account the partial frequency redistribution and the cylindrical geometry of the medium, the rate equations of the population balance of a two-level atom were solved with the equation of radiation transfer. The Biberman–Holstein escape factor was calculated as a function of the optical thickness of vapour for different geometries of the luminescing gas and different models of the frequency redistribution functions. The dependence of the escape factor on the optical thickness investigated experimentally by Romberg and Kunze (J. Quant. Spectrosc. Radiat. Transfer. 1988 39 99) is discussed.