Understand
More than one million people in the UK who have never smoked are now vapers, ONS data reveals
Overview
Latest data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) shows that over a million people in the UK who have never smoked now vape regularly or occasionally, rising from 940,000 in 2024. For the second consecutive year, more people in Great Britain use e-cigarettes than smoke conventional cigarettes, with the overall number of smokers continuing to decline.
Key points
- 1.1 million people who have never smoked or smoked regularly now vape daily or occasionally, up from around 940,000 in 2024.
- People aged 25 to 34 now vape more than any other age group, overtaking 16 to 24-year-olds with 16.4% usage.
- More over-16s in Great Britain use vapes (5.4 million) than smoke cigarettes (4.9 million) for the second year in a row.
- The number of UK smokers has fallen to nearly one in 10 adults, down from 5.3 million in 2024 to 4.9 million.
- New UK legislation taking effect soon will permanently ban the legal sale of tobacco to anyone born on or after 1 January 2009.