Trends in vaping in England
Vera Buss, Loren Kock, Robert West, Emma Beard, Dimitra Kale, Jamie Brown
Updated 8th July 2025
Smoking in England is the portal through which major findings from the Smoking Toolkit Study and other national data are made available to policy makers, clinicians, researchers, journalists and the general public. Details on the methods are at the bottom of this page
Trends in vaping in England
Vera Buss, Loren Kock, Robert West, Emma Beard, Dimitra Kale, Jamie Brown
Updated 8th July 2025
Vaping has become prevalent in many countries.
In England, vapes are currently regulated as consumer products.
It is important to track vape use and assess how far they appear to be promoting or detracting from reduction in prevalence of cigarette smoking.
To track vaping over time and assess how far any increase is accompanied by changes in:
To assess prevalence of vaping in people who have never smoked regularly or stopped for more than a year
To estimate changes in the total tobacco and nicotine market
Monthly household surveys
Each month involves a new representative sample (16 and over) of ~1700 respondents; smokers ~450
Data collected on vapes since second quarter 2011
Fidler, et al., 2011. 'The smoking toolkit study': a national study of smoking and smoking cessation in England. BMC Public Health 11:479 https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2458-11-479
Vaping in adults increased between 2021 and 2024, especially among young adults, but appears to have stalled
Use of heated tobacco products is rare
Vaping by never smokers increased since 2021 but remains relatively rare (~4%) while use among long-term ex-smokers has continued to grow since 2013
Vaping in smokers and recent ex-smokers plateaued between 2013 and 2020 but has grown since
Around a third of vapers and the majority of NRT users are ‘dual users’ (also smoke)
Frequency of use is greatest in ex-smokers
Majority use devices containing nicotine. Later generation devices were more popular than disposables to 2021; in 2022 disposables rapidly became most popular but declined in 2024.
Never smokers are most likely to use disposables and e-liquids with 20mg or more of nicotine. A minority of users did not know the strength
Purchase from specialist vape shops has declined since 2016 as non-specialist purchases have risen. Newsagents are most popular among never smokers
Vaping is most popular with younger people
Vaping is more popular among less advantaged social grades, and they have seen the largest increases since 2021
Vaping among smokers plateaued between 2013 and 2020 but grew since
Vaping among recent ex-smokers has declined from a peak in 2016 but grew since 2020
Vaping for quitting has declined from a peak in 2016 through to 2020 but has grown recently
The proportion of recent ex-smokers who started vaping after quitting smoking declined from a peak in 2015 but has stalled recently
There has been a long-term decline in the prevalence of cigarette smoking but it may have stalled between 2020 and 2023, except in young adults, before declining again in 2024
The smoking cessation rate, and the success rate in those who have tried to stop smoking, increased after 2011 before plateauing until a further increase in 2020
The rate at which smokers have tried to stop in the past year decreased from 2015 before increasing in 2020
The largest proportions of current smokers believe vapes are equally or more harmful than cigarettes
Vaping remained relatively stable between 2013 and 2020; it increased between 2021 and 2024, especially among young adults, but now appears to have stalled
Vaping by never smokers increased since 2021 but remains relatively rare (~4%); use among long-term ex-smokers has continued to grow since 2013
Growth in vaping was initially accompanied by a reduction in use of licensed nicotine products and prescription medication but the trajectories appear to be different
There has been a long-term decline in the prevalence of cigarette smoking since 2007, but it appeared to stall between 2020 and 2023, except in young adults, before declining again in 2024
The trajectories for smoking prevalence and quit attempts differ from that of prevalence of vaping
Success rates in stopping smoking increased after 2011 and again in 2020