More than one million people in Great Britain, who have never smoked conventional tobacco, are now regular or occasional vapers, according to the latest date released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
E-cigarettes remain an effective cessation tool that has driven smoking rates down to historic lows. However, there is an uptake in vape consumption among people who have never used tobacco.
The number of never-smokers who vape reached over one million, rising from around 940,000 in the previous reporting year.
Across Great Britain, overall e-cigarette use has outpaced cigarette smoking for the second year running. Approximately 5.4 million people aged 16 and older reported vaping, compared to 4.9 million traditional cigarette smokers across the UK (down from 5.3 million).
Smoking prevalence has fallen to nearly one in ten adults, with 18-to-24-year-olds registering the steepest decline among all demographics. Those aged 45 to 54 maintained the highest proportion of current smokers at 12.4%.
The ONS also documented a distinct demographic shift in vaping patterns: individuals aged 25 to 34 have now eclipsed the 16-to-24 cohort as the age group most likely to vape, with 16.4% using e-cigarettes either daily or occasionally.
According to BBC, David Mais from the ONS noted that vapers are steadily ageing, explaining that this trend "may reflect existing users getting older, growing popularity among this age group, or a combination of both."
The figures arrive ahead of historic tobacco control legislation set to take effect in the new year, which will progressively raise the legal smoking age by permanently banning tobacco sales to anyone born on or after 1 January 2009 to deliver a "smoke-free generation."
Hazel Cheeseman, Chief Executive of Action on Smoking and Health (ASH), welcomed the continuing reduction in smoking: "Smoking has fallen enormously over recent decades, but it remains the biggest driver of preventable death in the UK. Now is the time to finish the job."
Health bodies stress that while vapes serve as an effective second-line cessation aid for existing smokers, non-smokers and young people under 18 should never initiate vaping.
