The majority of e-cigarette users in Great Britain do so to stop smoking and to avoid starting up again, while 14% claimed they did so "because they enjoy it."
According to a recent study from Action on Smoking and Health (ASH), there are now an estimated 4.3 million active vapers in Britain, which is a record high. ASH said a “vaping revolution” had taken place over the last ten years.
The data indicates that adults in England, Wales, and Scotland now vape at a rate of 8.3%, up from 1.7% or about 800,000 a decade earlier.
Approximately 2.4 million of the 4.3 million current vapers are no longer smokers, 1.5 million are still smoking, and 350,000 have never smoked a cigarette.
The data also reveals an increase from 4.9% to 8.1% in the percentage of current e-cigarette users who have never smoked. This number was described as a "all-time high" by the report's authors.
In addition, the study found that young people were increasingly using e-cigarettes, with 18 to 24 year olds accounting for 11% of all customers in 2022. This increased from 2021, when they had the lowest vaping rate at 5%. The vaping rate among people 55 and older is currently the lowest at 5.9%.
In 2022, 35% of current vapers also smoked, often referred to as "dual users". However, daily vapers in this group smoke fewer cigarettes than dual users who vape less frequently.
According to the study, which was based on a YouGov survey of more than 13,000 adults from across Great Britain, 28% of current smokers had never used an e-cigarette, and 10% of them expressed concern that they weren't "safe enough." A third of adults indicated they thought vaping was just as unhealthy as smoking, if not more so.
The majority of e-cigarette users said they did so to stop smoking and to avoid starting up again, while 14% claimed they did so "because they enjoy it."
The majority of vapers reported using refillable tank systems. However, the report shows that disposable e-cigarette use is on the rise, going from 2.3% of vapers in 2021 to 15% this year.