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A young person holding a small e-cigarette on a British street with a red double-decker bus in the background.

More than 1 million never-smokers in Great Britain reported vaping in 2025

More than 1 million people aged 16 and over in Great Britain who had never smoked said they used e-cigarettes in 2025, according to the UK Office for National Statistics. The finding comes as cigarette smoking continued to decline.

Written by Smoke Free News Desk, adapted from The Cancer Letter. Published on .

More than 1 million people aged 16 and over in Great Britain who had never smoked said they used e-cigarettes in 2025, according to the UK Office for National Statistics (ONS). The finding comes as cigarette smoking continued to decline.

The ONS report, Adult smoking habits in the UK: 2025, was published on October 6, 2026. The Cancer Letter reported on the figures on October 9, 2026.

Vaping among people who have never smoked

Based on the Opinions and Lifestyle Survey, around 2.9% of never-smokers aged 16 and over in Great Britain—about 1.1 million people—said they used an e-cigarette daily or occasionally in 2025. In 2024, the figure was 2.7%, or around 940,000 people.

The survey covers England, Scotland and Wales, but not Northern Ireland.

Overall e-cigarette use and smoking

Around 5.4 million adults aged 16 and over in Great Britain, or 9.9%, used an e-cigarette daily or occasionally in 2025. This was similar to 2024, although e-cigarette use has followed an upward trend over recent years.

The share of adults aged 16 and over who said they smoked cigarettes fell from 9.1% in 2024 to 8.7% in 2025, continuing a long-term downward trend.

The rise in vaping among people who have never smoked is a public-health concern, the supplied report says, because e-cigarettes are mainly promoted as a way to help existing smokers quit rather than as a product for non-smokers.

Source Acknowledgement

This article is adapted from "One million never-smokers are now vaping in the UK, survey finds", published by The Cancer Letter on October 9, 2026, with figures from the ONS report "Adult smoking habits in the UK: 2025". Smoke Free News has rewritten and summarised the report for clarity.

Source: The Cancer Letter

Author
Smoke Free News Desk, adapted from The Cancer Letter
Published
12 Oct 2026
Last verified
12 Oct 2026
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