The number of adults in England to have started vaping despite never having been regular smokers has reached one million, scientists estimate. This is a sharp increase on 2020, with disposable vapes having been available since 2021. The rise is driven mostly by young adults - with about one out of every seven 18-24-year-olds who never regularly smoked now using e-cigarettes.
While some may have benefited by taking up vapes instead of traditional cigarettes - the trend could be worrying, experts say. Lead researcher, Dr Sarah Jackson, at University College London (UCL), said the public-health impact of the "substantial rise" in vaping among people who have never regularly smoked depended on what they would otherwise be doing. “It is likely that some would have smoked if vaping were not an available option," she said.
"In this case, vaping is clearly less harmful. "However, for those who would not have gone on to smoke, vaping regularly over a sustained period poses more risk than not vaping.” Researchers looked at surveys of about 150,000 adults in England between 2016 and 2024.
Respondents agreeing with the statement: “I have never been a smoker - ie smoked for a year or more," were counted as "never regular smokers". And between 2016 and 2020, only 0.5% of these vaped.
But by April 2024, this had risen to 3.5%, with more than half aged between 18 and 24. Over the last few years, these "never regular smokers" who took up vapes tended to be younger, more were women, and .