Skip to content
Search
AI Powered
Latest Stories

Vaping use hits record high, smoking numbers down in 2020

JM Wholesale- Vape and CBD oil wholesaler in UK

Smoking prevalence, or the proportion of current smokers, in the UK has gone below 14 per cent for first time in years while vaping hit highest rates since records began, official data has shown.

According to the annual smoking prevalence report from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), published yesterday, the number of UK vapers had risen to 6.4 per cent - equivalent to around 3.3m people - in 2020, from 3.7 per cent in 2014, when the agency started collecting data on e-cigarettes use.


The report also reveals that the number of adult smokers in the UK currently stands at 13.8 per cent of the population – its lowest percentage since at least 2015.

However, according to the ONS monthly data, smoking rates rose sharply during the pandemic and national lockdown to a peak of 16.3 per cent in August, before slowly decreasing to 13.8 per cent by the end of 2020.

“While this rise in smoking prevalence during lockdown could be attributed to increased anxiety because of the pandemic, I would also point towards the fact that speciality vape shops were not granted ‘essential retail’ status and therefore had to close their doors as another significant contributing factor,” commented John Dunne, director general of the UK Vaping Industry Association.

The data comes just one month after the government announced that vaping devices could soon be prescribed to smokers on the NHS.

The ONS report also highlighted that the number of ex-smokers who now vape had risen from 11.7 per cent in 2019 to 12.3 per cent, while the number of smokers who also vape increased from 15.5 per cent in 2019 to 17.8 per cent in 2020.

Dunne said these figures show that the anti-vaping lobby’s attempts to smear e-cigarettes’ effectiveness at helping people to quit smoking are “simply not working.”

“Vaping advocates, on the other hand, have the science, political will and, increasingly, the healthcare sector’s support for increased use of vaping to help smokers to give up their habits for good,” he added.

More for you

Budget 2024: Local shops to face significant new pressure

(Photo by JUSTIN TALLIS/AFP via Getty Images)

(Photo by JUSTIN TALLIS/AFP via Getty Images)

Budget 2024: Local shops to face significant new pressure

Local shops will face significant new pressures as a result of today’s Budget, the Association of Convenience Stores (ACS) has warned.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves' budget's impact will be felt unevenly across the UK’s 50,000 convenience stores, with some measures such as business rate relief and the increased employment allowance mitigating costs for smaller independent stores, while providing no help for chains and larger independent businesses.

Keep ReadingShow less
Post Office cash deposits and withdrawals
Post Office, DPD partners to rollout ‘Click and Collect’ services
Post Office, DPD partners to rollout ‘Click and Collect’ services

Parliament to launch inquiry into Post Office Horizon scandal compensation delays

Parliament is to launch an inquiry into delays in compensation settlements for sub postmasters affected by the Horizon scandal.

The newly-formed Business and Trade Select Committee will call ministers, subpostmasters and their lawyers to give evidence next week with a second session to follow in mid-November. The Committee’s chair, Liam Byrne MP told ITV News that there was “definitely a delay” in people coming forward for payment.

Keep ReadingShow less
C-store body warns of 'inflation-busting increase in wage costs'
Woman Holding British Pound
Getty Images/iStockphoto

C-store body warns of 'inflation-busting increase in wage costs'

Convenience store body Association of Convenience Stores (ACS) today (30) has warned the Chancellor about the negative effects of the new National Living Wage (NLW) increase, a day after the Chancellor announced a pay rise for over 3 million workers next year, with NLW rates rising by 6.7 perc cent.

From April 2025, the NLW will increase from £11.44 to £12.21 while 18-20 National Minimum Wage will rise by £1.40 per hour to £10 - the largest increase on record, marking the first step towards a single adult rate.

Keep ReadingShow less
Bacup Wine and Convenience shop, 34 Burnley Road, Bacup.

Bacup Wine and Convenience shop, 34 Burnley Road, Bacup.

Robbie MacDonald via LDRS

Shop’s licence bid rejected over illegal vapes and ‘no regard’ for children’s safety

A Rossendale shop has had a licence bid rejected after repeatedly selling vapes to children and having illegal products on its premises.

Management at the Ibra Superstore at 34 Burnley Road, Bacup, have shown ‘no regard’ for children’s protection and safety, and have insufficient controls for licensing, Rossendale councillors have ruled.

Keep ReadingShow less
SPAR retailer hits target to secure £100,000 free stock from James Hall

SPAR retailer hits target to secure £100,000 free stock from James Hall

SPAR North of England retailer Dara Singh Randhawa’s family store has been awarded £100,000 of free stock after hitting all his targets since moving to the symbol.

Dara and his family, who have their SPAR store in Patrington in the East Riding of Yorkshire, joined SPAR through its association with James Hall & Co. Ltd in August 2023 having taken the decision to maximise the store’s potential.

Keep ReadingShow less