Listen again · In Conversation
More people in Great Britain are vaping without ever having smoked October 7, 2026 · 3:43 · Health explained · With Maya and Grace
We’re looking at new figures on people in Great Britain who vape but have never regularly smoked. Grace, what is the main finding?
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Maya You’re listening to Slow English FM and Health Explained. Welcome, and thanks for joining us. I’m Maya. Grace covers health and medicine. We’re looking at new figures on people in Great Britain who vape but have never regularly smoked. Maya Grace, what is the main finding? Grace The Office for National Statistics figures, reported by The Guardian and The BMJ, estimate that about 1.1 million people in Great Britain who had never regularly smoked used e-cigarettes in 2025. That means they vaped daily or occasionally. The estimate was about 940,000 in 2024. Maya So this is not a count of people who vape every day only. It includes occasional use as well. And when we say Great Britain, we mean England, Scotland, and Wales, not Northern Ireland. Grace That’s right. The Guardian reports that the share of people who had never regularly smoked but used e-cigarettes rose from 1.5 percent in 2021 to 2.9 percent in 2025. The figures show a rise in reported use. They do not, by themselves, explain why it rose. Maya Who was most likely to vape, according to these figures? Grace The Guardian reports that use was highest among people aged 25 to 34. In that age group, 16.4 percent vaped daily or occasionally in 2025. The Guardian also says this was the only age group where use increased that year. Its estimate rose from 12.9 percent in 2024. Maya Does that mean vaping is increasing across every age group? Grace No. The reported increase was specific to the 25-to-34 age group. The figures do not show an increase in every age group. Across all people aged 16 and older in Great Britain, about 5.4 million, or 9.9 percent, used e-cigarettes daily or occasionally in 2025, according to The Guardian. Maya What can these figures tell us about health risks for people who have never smoked? Grace They tell us how many people reported using e-cigarettes, and how that use differs across age groups. They do not measure health outcomes. So they cannot tell us from these numbers alone what health effects a person may face, or why that person started vaping. Maya In other words, a change in the number of users is not, on its own, proof of a particular health effect. Grace Exactly. The evidence in The Guardian’s report on oral health is a separate area. It says studies have raised concerns about dry mouth, irritation, and gum disease. But whether vaping itself causes tooth decay remains uncertain. Those findings do not tell us what caused the rise in use shown in the newer figures. Maya The central point, then, is that more than a million people in Great Britain who had never regularly smoked were vaping in 2025. The figures show who is using e-cigarettes, but they do not answer every question about health or explain the change. Grace, thank you. And thanks to you for listening to Health Explained on Slow English FM.
