Use of vapes (e-cigarettes) among adults in Great Britain

This factsheet analyses how behaviour and attitudes to vapes (e-cigarettes) among adults aged 18 years and over have changed over time. The Smokefree GB analysis conducted by ASH is based on data collected by YouGov for ASH, and is carried out in the Spring each year. The survey first started asking about e-cigarette use in 2010, and this update includes the results of the 2024 survey (n=13,266) carried out in February and March 2024.

Use of e-cigarettes

• The proportion of the population who currently vape this year is 11%, the highest rate ever, equal to 5.6 million adults in Great Britain. (Table 1)
  
• More than half (53%) of current vapers are ex-smokers, equal to 3 million people. This proportion peaked in 2021 at 65%. (Figure 1)
• More than half of ex-smokers who quit in the last five years say they used a vape in their last quit attempt, which amounts to 2.7 million ex-smokers, of whom around two thirds are still vaping while around a third have quit vaping as well. (Table 3)
• Among ex-smokers who quit smoking using a vape in the last five years and have now also quit vaping, the median length of time spent vaping was around a year.
• Among all ex-smokers who have ever vaped (including current and ex-vapers) the median length of time spent vaping is two years.
• However, from 2021 to 2024, more than half of current vapers who are ex-smokers had been vaping for over 3 years, compared with 18% in 2017 when we started asking this question. This amounts to 1.5 million people in 2024. (Figure 4)
• The proportion of smokers who are current vapers has increased from 2021 (17%) to 2024 (32%), which is 2.2 million people. (Figure 2)
• The proportion of adult smokers who have never tried e-cigarettes is continuing to decline slowly, down to 26% in 2024 which amounts to 1.7 million people. (Figure 2)
• Around 1.6% of never smokers are current vapers, amounting to 8.0% of vapers (Figure 1), which represents around 440,000 people. (Table 2)

Attitudes towards e-cigarettes

• As in previous years, the main reasons given by ex-smokers for vaping are to helpthem quit smoking entirely (28%) or to prevent relapse (21%). The next most
  common reasons are to help them cope with stress or mental health (14%) and
  because they enjoy the experience (11%). (Figure 5)

• The main reason given by current smokers for vaping are to cut down on smoking(17%), to avoid putting others at risk of secondhand smoke (15%), to try to help them quit (11%) and because they enjoy the experience (11%). (Figure 5)
• Half of all smokers (50%) incorrectly believe vaping is more or equally as harmful as smoking (Figure 9). This is the highest ever proportion with this misconception across all waves of the survey and a significant increase on misperceptions found in 2023. Only one third of smokers understand vaping is less harmful than smoking.
• For smokers who have never vaped, 60% believe vapes are as or more harmful than smoking, compared with 24% of ex-smokers who quit in the last five years and used a vape in that successful quit attempt.

Devices and products used

• Fruit is the most popular flavour of vape (47%), followed by menthol/mint (17%) and tobacco (16%). This pattern has changed since 2016, when tobacco was the most popular flavour (33%), followed by fruit and menthol/mint (both chosen by 22%). (Figure 13)
• The most commonly used type of e-cigarette device remains a refillable tank system, with 53% of current vapers reporting this type as their main device. (Figure 15)
• The relative popularity of disposable vapes rose rapidly between 2021 and 2023 from 2.3% to 31% of current vapers but has since stabilised with 30% of current vapers reporting these as their main device.
• Use of disposable vapes is most popular among adults aged 18-24, more than half of whom (52%) used disposable vapes as their main device in 2024. (Figure 16)
• Among current vapers who have vaped more than once or twice, 59% say that they use the same strength e-liquid as when they first started vaping. Those who have changed are more likely to decreased than increased the strength. (Figure 17)