U.K. consumers leading in uptake of vaping
British consumers are switching from traditional cigarettes to vaping devices faster than anyone in Europe, according to an EY study of electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS) in seven markets.
In the past four years, the British have switched to vaping at the rate of one person every four minutes.
The EY report shows that 2.2 million British people now use e-cigarettes, up by 55 percent in three years. In total, 4.2 percent of British adults vape. France has the next highest penetration at 3.1 percent.
The vapers polled said they used their devices because they viewed them as less harmful than smoking and because vaping helped them cut back or quit smoking.
“Our report shows that this is a rapidly growing and evolving market,” said Peter Arnold, director at EY. “Consumers are driving innovation in devices, flavors and nicotine levels. There are now more regular consumers and evidence of increased migration from dual to sole use.”
The most important driver and barrier to accelerating uptake, according to EY, is related to the perceived health implications relative to cigarettes. This applies across all markets.
In the U.K.—which has the highest take-up in the survey—the government’s advisory body, Public Health England and The Royal College of Physicians, have publicly backed the products as being considerably safer than traditional cigarettes.
The report also shows that in the U.K.:
- 850,000 vapers now classify themselves as ex-smokers (up 10 percent in a year)
- 470 people a day switched completely over to e-Cigarettes in the last two years
- The proportion of “dual users” who still smoke cigarettes has reduced by 45 percent in three years and now stands at around one third, or 750,000.
Although e-cigarette growth is largest in the U.K., globally the e-cigarette market is growing too. The value of the ENDS market worldwide has increased by 800 percent since 2010 and now stands at £6.1 billion worldwide. It is estimated that it will double again in the next three years to £12 billion by 2020.
“The UK has one of the most progressive regulatory environments for e-cigarettes and that’s reflected in consumer uptake and category growth,” said Kingsley Wheaton, managing director for next generation products at British American Tobacco.
“The U.K. government has created an environment which enables consumers to be informed about the products, have access to them and allows manufacturers to innovate and provide quality vaping products. With many UK experts in Science and Health endorsing e-cigarettes as a safer alternative to smoking, up-take of e-cigarettes can only be a good thing”
