Current E-Cigarette Use by Smoking Status, Great Britain, 2014-2017

Use of e-cigarettes is confined largely to current and ex-smokers and use amongst never smokers remains very low (at around two to three percent). Over time the proportion of current e-cigarette users who smoke tobacco has decreased and the proportion of ex-smokers has increased (and overtaken smokers).

The anti-smoking charity ASH has conducted repeat surveys on the use of e-cigarettes in the adult population in Great Britain (England, Wales, and Scotland) since 2012. Sample sizes are substantial at around 12,000 adults (18 and over) each year. This graph illustrates these data, and shows a steady increase in the proportion of the adult population who use e-cigarettes, up from just under two percent in 2012 to nearly six percent in 2017. There appears to be some slowing of the increase in 2016 and 2017. ASH, working with King’s College London, has estimated the prevalence of e-cigarette usage in Great Britain by using the findings of the surveys and applying these to the most recent population data available in each year.

These data show that in 2017:

» An estimated 2.9 million adults in Great Britain currently used e-cigarettes;

» Of the 2.9 million current e-cigarette users, approximately 1.5 million (52%) were ex-smokers.

See also p. 52 of the report: No Fire, No Smoke: The Global State of Tobacco Harm Reduction 2018 — Global State of Tobacco Harm Reduction (gsthr.org)