Ex-smokers turn to vapes to stop them relapsing to the deadly habit, a new study has found.
The research, published in the scientific journal BMC Medicine and funded by Cancer Research UK, found that a rise in vaping over the last decade has largely been driven by people using vapes to quit smoking.
Led by researchers at University College London (UCL), the study looked at survey data collected between October 2013 and May 2024 from 54,251 adults in England who reported they had stopped smoking or had tried to stop smoking.
The data shows that an increasing number of people who had successfully quit smoking more than a year prior to being polled reported vaping.
In 2013, one in 50 people who had quit smoking more than a year earlier said they vaped. By 2017, this had risen to one in 10. .
This figure remained stable for several years and then increased sharply from 2021, when disposable vapes became popular, reaching one in five in 2024 (an estimated 2.2 million people).
Vapes now used in almost half of quit smoking attempts
The researchers found that, at the same time, there was an increase in the use of vapes in quit attempts. In 2013, vapes were used in 27 per cent of quit attempts, while in 2024 they were used in a massive 41 per cent of them.
The increase in vaping, the researchers reported, was greatest in younger age groups, with more than half (59 per cent) of 18-year-olds who quit smoking more than a year earlier reporting vaping in May 2024, compared to 11 per cent of 65-year-olds.
The increase was also larger among ex-smokers who drank heavily, with more than a third (35 per cent) of the heaviest drinkers who stopped smoking more than a year earlier reporting vaping.
There was also a small increase in the number of people who quit smoking more than two years before the survey started having taken up vaping.
Among ex-smokers who quit smoking prior to 2011, the proportion who reported vaping rose from one in 250 (0.4 per cent) in 2013 to one in 27 (3.7 per cent) in May 2024, equivalent to 212,000 people.
However, the researchers noted there was some uncertainty with these findings, due to a smaller sample size in this group.
Increasing use of vapes in quit smoking attempts
Lead author Dr Sarah Jackson (UCL Institute of Epidemiology and Health Care) said: “The general increase in vaping among ex-smokers is in line with what we might expect, given the increasing use of e-cigarettes in quit attempts. NHS guidance is that people should not rush to stop vaping after quitting smoking, but to reduce gradually to minimise the risk of relapse.
“Previous studies have shown that a substantial proportion of people who quit smoking with the support of an e-cigarette continue to vape for many months or years after their successful quit attempt.
“However, it is a concern to see an increase in vaping among people who had previously abstained from nicotine for many years. If people in this group might otherwise have relapsed to smoking, vaping is the much less harmful option, but if relapse would not have occurred, they are exposing themselves to more risk than not smoking or vaping.”
Vaping the most successful aid to people quitting smoking
The findings follow a separate study in August which found that vaping has been the most successful aid to people quitting smoking over the last five years.
The survey from health charity Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) found that 5.6 million adults in the UK use vapes. Of these, a massive 53 per cent said they had stopped smoking, 39 per cent are still smoking and eight per cent have never smoked.
Among those who had successfully quit smoking, more than HALF (2.7 million people) said they had used a vape to help them kick the habit.
And of those, a third have since also stopped vaping. The average duration for vaping while giving up smoking was one year.
According to the NHS, almost two-thirds of people who use a vape along with support from a local Stop Smoking Service successfully quit smoking.
Smoking remains the largest single risk factor for death and years of life lived in ill-health in England. The UK has set itself a target of becoming smoke-free by 2030, but anti-smoking campaigners and vape advocates warn that strict upcoming vaping laws - including a ban on disposable vapes and most flavours - could hamper its chances of meeting this.
