How popular is vaping in Britain?
Since the first e-cig was developed in 2005, vaping has come a long way. Devices have changed so much over the last 18 years, but their purpose remains the same: to help adult smokers break free from the chains of tobacco. But how many people vape in the UK? Let’s take a look at the figures and what can be done to increase them.
Vapers in the UK
According to the latest Action on Smoking Health (ASH) report, there are currently around 4.7 million vapers in the UK. This is roughly 9.1% of the population! Of these, 57% have quit smoking, which is fantastic news. 37% currently use tobacco, known as dual users. The remaining 6% are vapers that have never smoked.
The main reasons given by ex-smokers for vaping are:
- as a quit aid (31%)
- to keep them from smoking (22%)
- because they enjoy the experience (14%)
- it saves money (12%).
Regarding what people are using, open tank kits remain the most common, with 50% of users. However, disposables have sharply risen, with 54% of 18-24 year old vapers using them. In terms of flavours, fruit remains the most popular, followed by mint and menthol.
Perceptions of harm
27% of current smokers haven’t tried e-cigarettes yet. The biggest reason that they gave for not transitioning to a vape was that they didn’t want to exchange one addiction for another. This could be because they aren’t aware that vaping is 95% healthier than smoking.
40% of tobacco users incorrectly believe vaping is as or more harmful than smoking. 30% understood that e-cigarettes are safer, but only 10% knew how drastically better vaping is.
What can be done to covert smokers to vaping?
E-cigarettes are a fantastic tool for adult smokers to quit. As the NHS highlights, the chances of giving up tobacco are double when using a vape compared to other NRTs. But as can be seen from the ASH report, a lot of smokers aren’t aware of the benefits. The IBVTA has recently launched a campaign to demystify the misinformation about vaping, recognising the need to educate people about the benefits.
The UK government supports vaping as the best stop smoking tool, but more help needs to be given to promote it. In 2019 they announced plans to make Britain smoke free by 2030. This would mean that less than 5% of the population smoke. This year, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced plans to increase the legal age for buying tobacco by one year annually. If this were to happen, 14 year olds today would never be able to legally purchase cigarettes. In this announcement, Rishi also proposed plans to reform vaping to reduce the number of underage users.
These reforms are necessary, as underage use remains a problem. But, the most important change would be to improve perceptions. The mainstream media doesn’t help this. I tracked vaping news stories across two months, and out of 38 articles, only 8 talked about vaping positively. That means 79% of news stories made e-cigarettes seem harmful and dangerous. The BBC is the news platform with the largest reach and, over the 2 months I analysed, 60% of their stories were neutral and 40% were negative towards vaping.
In conclusion
How many people vape in the UK? A lot, but it’s still not enough. With 6.4 million smokers left across Britain, more needs to be done by the government and media to help promote it.
Sources
[1] Action on Smoking Health. (2023). Use of e-cigarettes (vapes) among adults in Great Britain.
[2] Office for Health Improvement & Disparities. (2022). Nicotine vaping in England: 2022 evidence update main findings.
[3] Ofcom. (2022). News Consumption in the UK: 2022.
