ONS survey data shows one in ten adults aged 16 and over used an e-cigarette daily or occasionally in 2025, with the 25 to 34 age group recording the highest rate at 16.4 per cent.
Around 5.4 million adults in Great Britain used an e-cigarette daily or occasionally in 2025, equivalent to 9.9 per cent of all adults aged 16 and over, according to the Office for National Statistics Opinions and Lifestyle Survey. The figures cover England, Wales and Scotland; Northern Ireland is not included.
The year-on-year picture is broadly flat. ONS data for 2024 recorded the same absolute number — around 5.4 million users — at a marginally higher proportion of 10.0 per cent, suggesting use has stabilised rather than grown.
The 25 to 34 age group stands out. At 16.4 per cent, their rate of e-cigarette use is well above the adult average, making them by some distance the heaviest-using age cohort the ONS measured.
The government’s position is that vaping is less harmful than smoking and can help adult smokers quit. But official guidance is clear that people who don’t smoke should not vape, and children should never do so. Single-use disposable vapes were banned from sale and supply across the UK from 1 June 2025.
The ONS cautions that its figures are survey estimates subject to both sampling and non-sampling uncertainty and should not be read as an exact population count.
Source: @ONS
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