As part of its efforts to combat tobacco-related diseases, Eurispes recently conducted a study at European level on the role of new tools in overcoming tobacco burning, the leading cause of tobacco-related diseases.

Eurispes' research focuses on e-cigarette consumption in the EU, analysing different public health directions and exploring employment and distribution chain aspects of the e-cigarette industry in 14 European countries. The results reveal different patterns, characterized by different levels of market development.

Following a descriptive quantitative approach, data are drawn from major international and national studies, as well as empirical studies using questionnaires in the second half of 2021. For the questionnaire, open-ended question designs, manufacturers, and retailers were distributed via email among national vaping business associations.

Data can be collected for the following markets: Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Spain and the United Kingdom and analyzed using descriptive statistics.

Although Pearson's r was used as the correlation coefficient to detect the correlation between smoking and the number of vaping cigarettes, the limitations of this method as a pure linear correlation coefficient must be acknowledged.

Regarding the prevalence of smokers and e-cigarette users, Eurispes' research revealed that the number of e-cigarette consumers (so-called e-cigarette users) varied widely across the surveyed market. While the UK shows a considerable number of vapers at 6%, countries such as Romania have fewer vapers at 1.5%.

Data indicates that 11 of the 14 markets featured in this study have 6 million e-cigarette users.

Among the markets studied, the highest percentage of e-cigarette users is in Lithuania, with 11.5% of the adult population, Ireland and the aforementioned UK with 6.7%, followed by France, with a prevalence of 5.8% among those aged 18 and over. in the population.

Regular use of e-cigarettes is uncommon in Latvia, Poland, Romania and Spain, where the number of e-cigarette users remains between 1.1% and 1.9%.

According to the data collected, the adult population of the countries analyzed in 2020 was over 335 million. In these countries, there are 82 million smokers (24% of the adult population). According to reports, more than 656,000 people die each year from tobacco-related diseases, and the total annual cost to the national health system exceeds 115 billion euros.

Latvia, Greece and Romania have the highest smoking rates, with more than a third of adults smoking. Denmark has the lowest number of smokers at 16% and the UK leads the way in tobacco prevention with 12.8 smokers among adults.

The number of e-cigarettes was slightly inversely correlated with the number of cigarettes smoked (Perason's r (14) = − 0.31), suggesting that more widespread use of e-cigarettes may correspond to lower smoking rates.

By analyzing distribution channel and labor data, it was possible to identify 1,600 e-cigarette production companies in the 11 surveyed countries (distribution channel and labor data for the Belgian, Latvian and Polish markets could not be verified). They are almost all SMEs.

In addition, nearly 600 companies are engaged in the import and distribution business. There are more than 12,000 specialty stores in retail, but vaping products are also available in nearly 150,000 general stores.

The share of online-only stores ranges from 10% in Germany to 40% in the Netherlands and Ireland. Nordic and Western European countries tend to have higher rates of e-cigarette use, larger market volumes and higher employment in the industry.

Particular emphasis should be placed on the number of labor directly employed by the e-cigarette industry, which amounts to 77,000 labor units.

While the vaping market in Europe is growing, the same regulations for burning tobacco products generally apply to vaping products, so there is no way to inform users of the potential of these new devices to reduce health risks.

Authorities in many EU countries still express extreme restrictions on the use of e-cigarettes as a risk-reduction tool, often imposing the same taxes on these new devices as other traditional products involving combustion.

In contrast, some other countries, such as the UK, have shown a more open attitude towards these new devices, with considerable public health payoffs.