Vaping Overtakes Smoking in UK as Over a Million Non-Smokers Take Up E-Cigarettes

Fresh figures from the Office for National Statistics have revealed a striking shift in the UK's relationship with nicotine, with more than one million adults who have never smoked a cigarette now using vapes. The 2025 data shows that approximately 1.1 million people who describe themselves as never-smokers vape either daily or occasionally, a notable rise from the roughly 940,000 recorded in 2024. The findings, published as part of the ONS's annual snapshot of adult smoking habits across Great Britain, underline how deeply e-cigarettes have embedded themselves in British life.

For the second consecutive year, vaping has outpaced traditional smoking among those aged 16 and over. Some 5.4 million people now use e-cigarettes, compared with 4.9 million who smoke tobacco — a milestone that would have seemed improbable a decade ago. The number of smokers has continued its long downward trajectory, falling from 5.3 million in 2024 to a figure equivalent to roughly one in ten adults. Meanwhile, the proportion of people who have never tried an e-cigarette has edged down from 83.4% to 83.0%.

Perhaps the most unexpected detail in the data concerns who is driving the growth. People aged 25 to 35 are now the heaviest vapers in the country, overtaking the 16-to-24 age bracket that has historically dominated e-cigarette use. Among this older cohort, 16.4% report vaping daily or occasionally — a figure that suggests vaping is no longer primarily a youth phenomenon. David Mais of the ONS said the trend indicated that vapers were getting older, which "may reflect existing users getting older, growing popularity among this age group, or a combination of both."

The rise in vaping among older adults marks a meaningful departure from the patterns seen during the early years of the e-cigarette boom, when products were marketed heavily toward younger consumers and smoking rates among the young were the central concern of public health officials. That the 25-to-35 group has now moved to the front of the queue may reflect a generation that came of age as vaping was becoming mainstream, and who have carried the habit into their thirties.

The smoking picture continues to improve by most measures. Men remain more likely to smoke than women, consistent with previous years, while people aged 45 to 54 have the highest proportion of current smokers at 12.4%. Young adults aged 18 to 24 have recorded the largest decline in smoking of any age group, a development that campaigners regard as evidence that tobacco control measures are working. Among those who still smoke, half say they intend to quit, and 7.2% of the population reported having used an e-cigarette, up from 6.6% in 2024.

The health establishment's position on vaping remains nuanced. The NHS describes vaping as less harmful than smoking, while cautioning that the long-term effects are not yet fully understood. Its guidance is unambiguous on one point: non-smokers and anyone aged 17 or under should never vape. That advice sits awkwardly alongside the new figures, which show a growing population of never-smokers — adults who have no tobacco habit to replace — choosing to inhale nicotine from a device.

Hazel Cheeseman, of the anti-smoking charity Action on Smoking and Health, welcomed the broader decline in tobacco use. She noted that smoking had fallen enormously over recent decades but remained the biggest driver of preventable death in the UK, adding that now was the time to "finish the job." Her remarks capture the delicate balance facing policymakers, who must sustain progress against cigarettes without inadvertently normalising nicotine use among people who would otherwise never have touched it.

That balancing act is about to be tested by legislation. New laws taking effect in the new year will permanently ban the legal sale of tobacco to anyone born on or after 1 January 2009, an ambitious attempt to create what ministers have called a "smoke-free generation." The policy means that today's teenagers will never be able to legally buy cigarettes in their lifetime — a generational cutoff unlike anything previously attempted in UK tobacco control.

Yet the same legislative agenda has raised questions about vaping. The Tobacco and Vapes Bill that became law addresses both products, reflecting concern that e-cigarettes have become a gateway to nicotine for the young. The ONS data complicates that narrative: the fastest-growing group of vapers is not school-age children but adults in their late twenties and early thirties, many of whom may be using vapes as a substitute for cigarettes they have quit — or, in the case of never-smokers, as a recreational product in its own right.

Public health experts will be watching closely to see whether the never-smoker vaping population continues to expand. If it does, it could blunt the gains from falling smoking rates by creating a new cohort dependent on nicotine. Vaping may be less lethal than burning tobacco, but it is not risk-free, and the absence of long-term safety data leaves regulators navigating without a complete map.

The ONS figures nonetheless represent a genuine public health success story. Smoking rates have been declining for decades, driven by taxation, advertising bans, indoor smoking restrictions, and shifting cultural attitudes. The latest numbers suggest that trend has not stalled, even as vaping has surged. The challenge for the coming years will be to lock in that progress while ensuring that the alternative to cigarettes does not become a destination in itself for people who never smoked at all.