U.K. Vaping Reaches All-Time High

A record 4.3 million people are active vapers in Britain, reports The Guardian, citing new research by Action on Smoking and Health (ASH).

The data suggests that 8.3 percent of adults in England, Wales and Scotland vape, compared with 1.7 percent 10 years ago.

Of the 4.3 million current vapers, around 2.4 million are ex-smokers, 1.5 million are current smokers and 350,000 have never smoked.

The figures also show that the proportion of current e-cigarette users who have never smoked has increased from 4.9 percent last year to 8.1 percent this year.

The authors of the report said this figure was an “all-time high.”

“Over the last decade we’ve seen a vaping revolution take hold,” said Hazel Cheeseman, deputy chief executive of ASH.

“There are now five times as many vapers as there were in 2012, with millions having used them as part of a quit attempt.

“However, they haven’t worked for everyone. Just under half of smokers who have tried them have stopped using them and 28 percent have never tried one at all.”

Meanwhile, smoking is becoming less popular in the U.K. Data from the annual population survey found smoking prevalence among adults aged 18 and over in England declined from 20 percent to 14 percent between 2011 and 2019. The ASH report found e-cigarettes were responsible for an estimated 69,930 additional former smokers in England in 2017.