According to foreign reports, according to the latest report from ASH (Action on Smoking and Health), the proportion of the adult population who use e-cigarettes has increased to 8.3% this year, the highest proportion ever, reaching 4.3 million in the UK.

Key findings included the number of ex-smokers compared with never-smokers who vaped. The majority of current e-cigarette users are ex-smokers (57%). This proportion peaks in 2021 at 64%. Only 1.3% of never-smokers are currently e-cigarette users, accounting for 8.1% of e-cigarette users.

The report also highlights that the percentage of adult smokers who have never tried e-cigarettes continues to decline slowly, to 28% by 2022. The proportion of current smokers using e-cigarettes will increase from 2021 (17%) to 2022 (22%).

As in previous years, the main reason given by ex-smokers for vaping was to help them quit smoking (29%). The next most common reasons were to prevent relapse (19%), because they enjoyed the experience (14%), and to save money (11%).

The main reasons given by current smokers for vaping were reducing smoking (17%), saving money (16%), trying to help them quit smoking (14%) and preventing relapse (13%).

The most common type of vaping device remains the refillable open system, which is currently reported by 65% of vapers as their primary device.

E-cigarettes with replaceable cartridges and disposable e-cigarettes were the main device type for 17% and 15% of e-cigarette users, respectively.

However, the use of single-use e-cigarettes has increased, especially among young people.

Nearly half of e-cigarette users (48%) will use disposables as their primary type by 2022, up from 2.8% in 2021.

For those who have tried e-cigarettes and used pods, JUUL has risen to become the most popular brand since 2021 (19%), followed by Logic (17%), Vuse (16%), Vype ( 16%) and blu (14%).

In 2022, 94% of smokers and 92% of the general population have heard of e-cigarettes or vaping. This is in stark contrast to 2012, when 49% of adults knew them when they answered the same question.

The number of e-cigarette users has grown from around 700,000 in 2012 to 4.3 million in 2022.