Children’s Awareness of Heated Tobacco Products Quadruples Following Illegal Promotion of Products, as Parliament Drags Heels on Key Legislation

Data from Action on Smoking and Health shows an alarming surge of awareness of heated tobacco products among children in just four years, with the proportion of children who report having ever used the products also increasing significantly. This underscores the urgency of passing the delayed Tobacco and Vapes Bill, which will definitively end the illegal marketing of these products.

Almost a quarter (24%) of 11–17-year-olds in Great Britain are now aware of the products (up from just 6% in 2021). Ever use of the products by children has also significantly increased in the same period. The proportion of children aged 11-17 who have tried the product more than doubled between 2021 to 2025 (1.1% to 2.7%) equating to an estimated 150,000 children. Among adults, ever usage rose from 1.7% to 3.3% and awareness from 14% to 28% between 2021 and 2025.

Heated tobacco products are electronic devices that heat, rather than burn, tobacco to produce a vapour. While different from cigarettes, they still expose users to many of the same harmful, cancer-causing chemicals and are addictive.

Advertising tobacco products has been illegal in the UK since the Tobacco Advertising and Promotion Act (TAPA) came into force in 2002. Despite this, some tobacco companies have been marketing heated tobacco products by displaying posters, video screens and point-of-sale promotions in-store in certain large supermarkets and partnering with magazines. Philip Morris International – who manufacture heated tobacco device iQos – has claimed the law doesn’t apply to products not explicitly named in the original legislation. However, the government has written to retailers instructing them to stop advertising and promoting heated tobacco - stating clearly that it is unlawful.

ASH is calling on the Government to urgently bring forward the next stage of the Tobacco and Vapes Bill. Despite being introduced in November last year, the Bill has not yet been scheduled to enter committee stage in the House of Lords. The Tobacco and Vapes Bill will clarify the law to ensure that heated tobacco promotion is explicitly prohibited, as well as futureproofing the regulations to cover any novel tobacco products that may emerge in future.

Caroline Cerny, Deputy Chief Executive of Action on Smoking and Health said:

“It’s worrying to see such a large rise in children’s awareness of these products in a short space of time, but unsurprising given the marketing tactics of the tobacco industry. The Government must act fast to protect children from becoming the next generation of consumers and urgently move the Tobacco and Vapes Bill through Parliament to clamp down on these tobacco tactics.”

Notes to editors

• Press and media contact: press@ash.org.uk

• Sources: ASH Smokefree GB survey data (age 18+, sample sizes 2021=12,247, 2025=13,314). ASH Smokefree GB youth survey data (age 11-17, sample sizes 2021=2,109, 2025=2,746). Full survey covers ages 11-18. Surveys were conducted online using the YouGov panel and are sampled and weighted to be representative all GB adults/youth.

• National figures calculated using prevalence and ONS. Estimates of the population for the UK, England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. Mid-2023 dataset (total GB children aged 11-17)