TOP TAKEAWAYS:
- Vaping now surpasses smoking in Great Britain, with 5.4 million adult vapers compared to 4.9 million cigarette smokers, per new ONS data.
- Smoking continues a decades-long decline, while daily vaping rises—especially among 25–49-year-olds and women.
- The UK’s sweeping Tobacco and Vapes Bill will phase out cigarette sales for future generations and introduce new rules for vape packaging, flavours, and nicotine pouch sales.
For the first time on record, more adults in Great Britain vape than smoke cigarettes, marking a historic shift in nicotine use. New data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show that 5.4 million people aged 16 and over now use vapes daily or occasionally, compared with 4.9 million who still smoke, according to the agency’s 2024 Opinions and Lifestyle Survey.
The finding highlights a turning point after decades of declining cigarette use, fueled by longstanding public health campaigns, regulatory limits, and the rising popularity of e-cigarettes as a safer alternative for smokers. Smoking is now at one of its lowest points since records began, with only 9.1% of adults identifying as current smokers—while 10% say they vape.
Cigarette smoking has decreased steadily over the past decade, and the number of adults reporting that they have quit smoking continues to rise—74.2% in 2024, up from 70.3% in 2023. In the 1970s, fewer than 30% of people who had ever smoked had successfully quit; nearly half of all adults smoked regularly.
Vaping adoption, by contrast, is increasing—especially among adults aged 25–49 and women. The ONS notes that the statistics reflect changing norms and greater acceptance of nicotine alternatives.
The NHS asserts that vaping involves only “a small fraction of the risks of smoking” because cigarettes emit thousands of toxic and carcinogenic chemicals when burned. However, the agency emphasizes that vaping is not completely risk-free, especially for young people and non-smokers.
A More Restrictive Era
The quick increase in vaping—and growing worries about youth use—comes as the UK government pushes some of the most comprehensive nicotine-control policies in its history.
Through the Tobacco and Vapes Bill, which is currently advancing in Parliament, the government intends to:
- Implement a generational smoking ban, making it illegal for anyone born on or after 1 January 2009 to purchase tobacco in the UK.
- Tighten rules on vape packaging, displays, and flavours, aiming to reduce appeal to children.
- Set new rules for nicotine strength and content, including for products such as nicotine pouches.
A Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) spokesperson told the BBC that there are currently no legal limits on nicotine levels in pouches, but the bill will grant regulators the power to set caps, impose marketing restrictions, and control flavors.
The government has also taken more immediate actions to limit youth access. As of June, it is illegal to sell or supply disposable vapes anywhere in the UK, a measure driven by environmental concerns and a surge in teenage use of brightly packaged, single-use devices.
Regulators are also working to ban the sale of nicotine pouches and similar non-tobacco nicotine products to anyone under 18, closing a loophole that had permitted sales to minors.
“The Tobacco and Vapes Bill will let us set rules on nicotine strength, flavors, and packaging to keep young people safe,” the DHSC spokesperson said.
