Proportion of People in Great Britain Vaping Who Never Smoked Doubles in Four Years

More than 1 million people in Great Britain now vape despite having never regularly smoked, according to data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), with rates nearly doubling over the past four years. Health experts have described the trend as concerning.

The ONS data showed that about 5.4 million people aged 16 and above in England, Scotland and Wales, representing 9.9% of that population, used e-cigarettes daily or occasionally in 2025. Vaping rates were highest among those aged 25 to 34, at 16.4%.

Rising use among non-smokers

The sharp increase in vaping among people who have never been regular smokers has drawn particular concern from public health experts, who note that e-cigarettes were originally promoted primarily as a tool to help existing smokers quit combustible tobacco rather than as a product intended for people with no prior smoking history.

The data adds to an ongoing debate in Britain over how to regulate vaping products, balancing their potential role in reducing smoking-related harm among existing smokers against concerns about nicotine uptake among people, including young adults, who would otherwise not have used tobacco products at all.

UK authorities have introduced various measures in recent years aimed at curbing youth vaping, including restrictions on flavoured products and packaging seen as appealing to younger users, though the latest figures suggest that non-smoker uptake of vaping has continued to grow despite these efforts.