UK Vaping Numbers Hit 4.3 Million

New figures have revealed that no less than 4.3 million over-18s in the UK use e-cigarettes, new research has revealed.

The figures were compiled by Action on Smoking and Health (ASH), with this increase representing a tenfold rise over the past decade. 

Some media reports on the figures jumped on the fact that 350,000 of those who vape have never smoked, 8.1 per cent of vapers, but the fact is that the overall figures provide substantial evidence that vaping is predominantly an activity of those who have given up smoking cigarettes, a move bodies like the NHS back as a way of improving health. 

Indeed, the research found that 57 per cent of e-cigarette users are former smokers, albeit lower than the peak figure of 64 per cent witnessed in 2021. By comparison, vapers only make up 1.3 per cent of all the people who have never smoked.

Moreover, the number of smokers never to have tried an e-cigarette has fallen to 28 per cent, while the proportion of smokers who also use vapes has risen from 17 per cent last year to 22 per cent this year. 

Quitting smoking remains the most common reason ex-smokers give for taking up vaping, accounting for 29 per cent of users, while 19 per cent said it helps them avoid relapsing.

When it comes to vape supplies, 65 per cent of users use a refillable tank system, while 17 per cent go for vapes with replaceable cartridges and 15 per cent prefer disposable vapes.  However, the use of the latter kind of product has soared among 18-24 year olds from just 2.8 per cent last year to 48 per cent now.

Perhaps most reassuringly, just 0.9 per cent of users consume liquids above the legal nicotine concentration unit of 20mg/ml.

Concerns do remain about illegal vapes being sold to underage customers, but trading standards officers across the country have been cracking down on this. A recent case was the handing out of warnings to 300 shops in North East Lincolnshire for this offence.