Millions of smokers have successfully quit using vaping products, with an estimated 3.3 million adults now vaping instead of smoking, according to new data from Action on Smoking and Health (ASH), which says the findings underline vaping's value as a smoking cessation tool while reinforcing the need to tackle youth uptake.
The charity's latest survey estimates that 5.5 million adults, or 10 per cent of the population, currently vape, with daily vaping now exceeding daily smoking for the first time. Daily vaping has risen from 4.5 per cent of adults in 2020 to 7.8 per cent in 2026, while daily smoking has fallen from 9.7 per cent to 6.6 per cent over the same period.
ASH said the crossover represents a "momentous shift" in nicotine consumption, driven largely by smokers switching to vaping as a less harmful alternative or as a quit aid.
The data also highlights vaping's contribution to smoking cessation. Around 3.3 million current vape users – approximately 60 per cent of all adult vapers – are former smokers, while an estimated 2.5 million people who quit smoking within the past five years said they used a vape to do so.
More than half (58 per cent) of people who stopped smoking during the past five years reported using vaping as part of their quit attempt.
The findings also suggest many consumers do not continue vaping indefinitely. Nearly one-third (32 per cent) of ex-smokers who used a vape to quit within the last five years said they have since stopped vaping as well.
However, ASH warned that youth vaping remains a significant concern despite no further increase over the past year.
The survey estimates that around 1.1 million 11-17-year-olds (19 per cent) have tried vaping, while approximately 370,000 (6 per cent) are current vape users.
Exposure to vape marketing also remains widespread among young people, with 75 per cent reporting they had seen vape promotions. Shops were the most common source (50 per cent), followed by online platforms (29 per cent), including social media channels such as TikTok, YouTube and Instagram.
ASH is urging the government to implement provisions under the Tobacco and Vapes Act to restrict the visibility and promotion of vaping products to children, while ensuring regulations do not make vaping less accessible to adult smokers seeking to quit.
"This data shows both the promise and the challenge of vaping. Millions of adults have used vapes to quit smoking, with an estimated 3.3 million ex-smokers now vaping instead of smoking and many going on to stop vaping altogether. That is a major public health success which should not be undermined,” Hazel Cheeseman, chief executive of ASH, said.
"At the same time, it remains unacceptable that so many children are experimenting with vapes. The fact that around 1.1 million under-18s have tried vaping shows why the Government must act quickly to restrict the promotion and marketing of these products to young people.
"The task now is to get the balance right: make vaping less visible and less appealing to children while ensuring it remains an effective and accessible quitting aid for adults who smoke. If we get that balance wrong, we risk slowing progress on reducing smoking, which remains the leading cause of preventable death."