One million UK people who have never smoked are now vaping

More than a million people who say they have never tried a cigarette are now vapers, latest UK data for 2025 reveals, external - up from around 940,000 in 2024.

People aged 25-35 are vaping more than any others, overtaking 16 to 24-year-olds, with 16.4% using e-cigarettes daily or occasionally.

For the second year in a row, more over-16s are using vapes or e-cigarettes than smoking cigarettes, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

Meanwhile, the number of smokers in the UK continues to fall to nearly one in 10 adults, or 4.9 million people, down from 5.3 million in 2024, with more over-16s now vaping than smoking at 5.4 million.

Vaping has overtaken smoking

Experts say the popularity of cigarette smoking has decreased as the harmful effects of tobacco have encouraged many to quit.

Vaping is less harmful than smoking, although the long-term effects are not yet clear, says the NHS.

It says non-smokers and people aged 17 and under should never vape.

The ONS figures show the percentage of people who had never used an e-cigarette continued to decrease in 2025 (83.0%) compared with 2024 (83.4%).

Twenty-five to 34-year-olds are now more likely to use vapes than 16 to 24-year-olds.

David Mais, from the ONS, said vapers were getting older and that "may reflect existing users getting older, growing popularity among this age group, or a combination of both".

Smoke-free generation

New legislation in the UK, external, taking affect in the new year, will permanently ban the legal sale of tobacco to anyone born on or after January 1, 2009 to create a "smoke-free" generation.

Hazel Cheeseman, from the charity Action on Smoking and Health, said the latest statics showed encouraging progress in cutting smoking rates.

She added: "Smoking has fallen enormously over recent decades, but it remains the biggest driver of preventable death in the UK. Now is the time to finish the job."

According to the ONS, men were more likely to smoke than women in 2025, similar to previous years.

And people aged 45-54 had the highest proportion of current smokers (12.4%).

Young adults aged 18 to 24 years have seen the largest drop in smoking among all age groups.

Of the people who currently smoked in 2025, half said they intended to quit. Some 7.2% of people reported having used an e-cigarette, up from 6.6% in 2024.