Vaping - understanding prevalence and trends among adults and children: research - SGF Summary

The document by the Scottish Government reports their understanding of current prevalence and trends in vaping based on the analysis of data from twelve surveys conducted at UK or regional level.

Vaping in Adults

• The percentage of adults in Scotland reporting current use (generally includes those who vape once a week or more and those who vape only occasionally) is likely to be somewhere between 5% according to the Scottish Health Survey and 13.2% as shown by the Smoking Toolkit Study.

• Most recent data suggests that vaping use amongst adults is growing.

• A large percentage (around 40%) of those who currently vape are also smoking tobacco (dual users).

• Vaping is more common in more disadvantaged groups.

• In Scotland, current use is higher in the younger age groups. Current use was reported by 16.8% of the 16-24 cohort between November 2021-November 2022, compared to 8.5% of those aged 55-64 years and 2.8% of those 65+ (Scottish Health Survey (SHeS) 2021).

• Use of vapes by never smokers remains very rare among adults (Smoking in Scotland, 2023).

Vaping in Children

• The proportion reporting regular vaping (once a week or more) varies between 0.2% for UK 10-15 year olds (Understanding Society 2020/21) a and 6.7% for Scottish 13 and 15 year olds (Health and Wellbeing Census 2021/22).

• Current use may be increasing. According to the most recent data from the ASH GB Youth survey, the rate among 11-17 year olds was 7% in 2022, up from 3.3% in 2021 and 4.1% in 2020.

• The most recent data on prevalence among children who have ever tried vaping comes from the ASH GB Youth Survey 2022, which reports 15.8% for 11-17 year olds.

• The vaping trend for young people reporting having ever tried is uncertain. Some surveys show an increase (SALSUS 2018 and ASH GB Youth Survey 2022), while Understanding Society 2020/21 records no change and the Student Health and Wellbeing Survey 2019/20 a decrease.

• Smokers or those who have ever tried a tobacco cigarette are more likely to have tried vaping than non-smokers or those who have never tried a tobacco cigarette. Dual use is also common. For example, the ASH GB Youth Survey 2022 estimated that 55.4% of current vapers aged 11-17 were dual users.

• Vaping is more common in more disadvantaged groups.

• The Growing Up in Scotland (GUS) survey 2019 revealed that 12 year olds living in the most deprived areas were more likely than those living in the least deprived ones to have tried e-cigarettes (13% compared to 3%).

The full report from the Scottish Government can be found here: Understanding prevalence and trends in vaping among adults and children: an analysis of data from twelve national and regional surveys in the UK (www.gov.scot)