How Many Vapers Are There in The UK?
The UK Now Has Three Million Vapers
It’s official! 2018’s statistics are in, and the number of smokers has fallen to just nine million. The number of vapers has risen by 10% since last year, and now three million former smokers in the United Kingdom have switched to vaping and ecigarettes.
This could save the NHS millions, and it’s sure to put a smile on the faces of anti-smoking campaigners, cancer researchers and UK ecigarette manufacturers alike. But why are more and more people turning to batteries and coils for their nicotine fix?
Vaping is a Growing Industry
The world’s electronic cigarette market is estimated to be worth around £1.8 billion, with UK consumers spending nearly £200m each and every year.
That figure can grow by as much as 40% year on year, and it’s not because of price rises. With a single bottle of eliquid costing as little as £1.00 (compared to nearly £10.00 for a packet of cigarettes), this growth isn’t being funded by manufacturers putting up their prices every 12 months.
The key driver of this growth has to be an increase in the number of vapers and ecigarette users worldwide, and especially in the UK. So the news that the number of vapers has increased by 10% since 2017 hasn’t surprised anyone in the industry.
Especially when you consider the following:
Cancer Research UK and the NHS Support Vaping
While a few abolitionist MPs have claimed the spotlight in recent weeks, and the tobacco lobby is putting pressure on the ecigarette market over in the United States, expert opinion in the UK is very much in favour of ecigarettes.
Cancer Research UK is one of the loudest voices speaking out against tobacco use in Britain, and they’ve been very clear about wanting smokers to switch to vaping.
“E-cigarettes give smokers the nicotine hit they need to help beat their cravings. But, the vapour doesn’t contain the same dangerous cocktail of chemicals found in tobacco smoke.”
Cancer Research UK Website
It’s not just Cancer Research who have been vocal about vaping being a safer alternative to smoking. The British Heart Foundation, Ash, and the NHS have all come out to recommend vaping.
As recently as February, a group of GPs announced that they recommended vaping be made available on prescription.
In fact, other than one or two members of parliament, the only people speaking out against vaping in any numbers are smokers, with 22% of tobacco users claiming that vaping is no better than their habit.
It’s undeniable that the perceived health benefit of vaping is driving the increase in numbers. But is there another reason?
Vaping is Still About Choice
Over the past ten years, strict laws on flavoured tobacco have begun to come into effect, leaving smokers with two choices. Tobacco, or menthol-flavoured tobacco.
Choice is a huge incentive for any consumer, and tobacco users are presented with near-identical products in identical packaging, all plastered with stark reminders that smoking is a pastime that will seriously impact your quality of life.
Vaping stands as a stark contrast.
Not only, as discussed above, is vaping less harmful to your health, but it also provides the consumer with an abundance of choice.
Taking one ecigarette range into example, customers can choose from traditional tobacco vapes, fresh and fruity vapes, sweet eliquids and of course the ubiquitous menthol ecigarette juice.
When you consider the health impacts and consumer choices in this growing market, maybe the three million figure is surprising for the wrong reasons.
Maybe the real surprise in all this is that 9m Britons still haven’t made the switch to ecigarettes?