UKVIA welcomes new report which shows UK smoking rates are at lowest levels ever, with vaping playing ‘major role’ in the decrease.
Just 13.3% of the population smoked in 2021 while the numbers of adult vapers rose from 6.4% to 7.7%
UK smoking levels have fallen to just 13.3% – the lowest since records began – according to new government data which says vaping played a ‘major role’ in the decline.
Latest data from The Office of National Statistics (ONS) shows that the smoking rate for 2021 is down from the previous low of 14.0% in 2020 and means that there are around 6.6million smokers in the UK.
The ONS said this was the lowest proportion of current smokers since records started in 2011 based on estimates from the Annual Population Survey (APS).
John Dunne, Director General of the UKVIA said: “This is absolutely fantastic news and I am delighted that the UK’s vaping industry is playing its part in making this happen.
“The government must now redouble its efforts to ensure that it gets its 2030 smoke-free ambitions back on track so that smoking can finally be consigned to history.
“Sadly, that won’t happen unless the recent recommendations from the Javid Khan review into smoking, which calls for vaping to be a key pillar of the government’s smoke-free strategy, are implemented.
“Now it is more important than ever that we capitalise on this momentum by reaching out to the 13.3% of the adult population who are still smoking and give them the facts that they need to make the switch to vaping.”
The Director General added: “Vaping horror stories, which have absolutely no basis in fact, may be great for mainstream media clicks, but when they keep smokers on cigarettes then they have deadly consequences.
“The UKVIA called for misinformation to be tackled effectively in our Blueprint for Better Regulation and we make this call again today, because this will save lives.
“We must allow vape companies to use agreed health claims and switching messages to encourage adult smokers to switch to e-cigarettes and make full use of the different methods of communication available to the Government and public health bodies.
“We call on the government, regulators and the health service to come together and work with the vape industry so that smokers can have the evidence-based information to allow them to make informed decisions about switching to vaping.”
The ONS data showed that Scotland had the highest smoking rate (14.8%), followed by Wales (14.1%), Northern Ireland (13.8%) and England (13.0%).
The report said: “Vaping devices such as e-cigarettes have played a major role in the decrease in smoking prevalence in the UK.
“In this bulletin, we have reported an increase in e-cigarette use, and organisations such as Action on Smoking Health (ASH) have reported similar increases in e-cigarettes (vapes) usage among adults in Great Britain.”
In the UK as a whole, 15.1% of men and 11.5% of women smoked, a trend which has been consistent since 2011.
The 25-34 age group had the highest proportion of current smokers (15.8%), while those aged 65 and over came in lowest (8.0%).
People without qualifications were more likely to be current smokers (28.2%) than those whose highest level of education was a degree or equivalent (6.6%).
The ONS report – ‘Adult smoking habits in the UK: 2021’ – said: “In Great Britain, 7.7% of Opinions and Lifestyle Survey (OPN) respondents, aged 16 years and over, said they currently used an e-cigarette daily or occasionally.
“This equates to around 4 million adults in the population; an increase on the estimate from 2020, where 6.4% of people reported daily or occasional e-cigarette use.”
The full ONS report – ‘Adult smoking habits in the UK: 2021’ – can be accessed here.
ENDS