Why people who have never smoked are getting hooked on vaping
More than one million people now vape who have never been smokers, according to the ONS.
By BBC News
More than one million people in Great Britain who have never smoked are now using e-cigarettes, new figures from the Office for National Statistics show.
Around 1.1 million people who had never smoked reported vaping daily or occasionally in 2025. That was up from approximately 940,000 the previous year.
The figures have prompted renewed concern about the number of non-smokers taking up vaping, particularly among younger adults.
Overall, about 5.4 million people aged 16 and over in Great Britain used e-cigarettes in 2025. Vaping was reported by 9.9 per cent of people in that age group.
Use was highest among 25 to 34-year-olds, with nearly one in six reporting that they currently used e-cigarettes.
The number of people vaping has risen as cigarette smoking has continued to fall. Around 4.9 million adults were still smoking, according to the ONS figures.
Hazel Cheeseman, from the charity Action on Smoking and Health, said some of the people who had never smoked might not have started vaping without the prominent marketing of e-cigarettes.
The NHS advises people who have never smoked not to vape. Vaping is also not recommended for anyone aged 17 or under, and it is illegal to sell e-cigarettes to people under 18.
The ONS figures also indicate that around one million 11 to 17-year-olds in Great Britain had tried vaping during 2025.