Fewer than one in ten adults now smoke, but vaping keeps rising

Fewer than one in ten adults in the UK now smoke cigarettes, according to new figures from the Office for National Statistics, but the number of people using e-cigarettes continues to grow.

Around 4.9 million people aged 18 and over smoked in 2025, 9.8 per cent of the adult population. That is down from 10.6 per cent in 2024, and from 20.2 per cent when the figures began in 2011.

Who smokes

• Men were more likely to smoke than women: around 2.8 million men (11.3 per cent) and 2.1 million women (8.2 per cent).
• People aged 45 to 54 were the most likely to smoke, at 12.4 per cent.
• People aged 18 to 24, and those aged 65 and over, were the least likely, at 7.2 per cent.

Young adults have seen the biggest fall. In 2011, 25.7 per cent of 18 to 24-year-olds smoked; in 2025, 7.2 per cent did. Smoking fell in all four nations of the UK between 2024 and 2025.

Vaping overtakes smoking

In Great Britain, around 5.4 million adults aged 16 and over, 9.9 per cent, used an e-cigarette daily or occasionally in 2025, much the same as in 2024 but up from 6.4 per cent in 2020. A separate survey measure found that more people now use e-cigarettes than smoke, continuing a trend first seen in 2024. Vaping was most common among people aged 25 to 34, at 16.4 per cent.

Where smoking is highest

Over the five years from 2021 to 2025, Fenland, Blackpool and Kingston upon Hull had the highest smoking rates of any local authority, with Blackpool and Hull both at 18.5 per cent, although smoking has fallen in all three. The ONS advises looking at long-term trends for individual areas, as figures can vary from year to year.

Why it matters

Smoking is still the biggest single cause of preventable illness and death in England, linked to cancers, heart disease, strokes and lung disease. Smoking rates are higher in poorer areas, which is one reason for the gap in life expectancy between the richest and poorest neighbourhoods, a gap that is wide in Birmingham.

A new excise duty on vaping products came into force on 1 October, charging £2.20 for every 10ml of vaping liquid, including products without nicotine.

Help to quit

October is Stoptober, the NHS campaign encouraging people to stop smoking for 28 days, after which they are five times more likely to quit for good. Free support is available from local stop smoking services, pharmacists and GPs, and through the free NHS Quit Smoking app. Using expert support together with a quitting aid, such as nicotine replacement therapy or a regulated vape, gives smokers the best chance of success.

The ONS figures come from its Annual Population Survey and its Opinions and Lifestyle Survey. Local authority figures are available in the data published alongside the bulletin.