7. E-cigarette use in Great Britain using data from the Opinions and Lifestyle Survey, 2014 to 2016 (adults aged 16 and over)

Approximately 2.9 million people in Great Britain currently use e-cigarettes

In Great Britain, 5.6% of respondents stated in 2016 they were current e-cigarette users, which equates to approximately 2.9 million of the population. In 2016, of all respondents 18.6% said that they had tried an e-cigarette, whereas 13.4% stated they have been an e-cigarette user but no longer use one.

Of those aged 16 and over, a higher proportion of men were current e-cigarette users (6.3%) compared with women (4.9%). Men were also more likely to have tried an e-cigarette or been an e-cigarette user in comparison with women.

E-cigarette use by age showed that the youngest, those aged 16 to 24 years, were more likely to have tried an e-cigarette and been an e-cigarette user, compared with the older age groups. Those aged 35 to 49 were found to most likely be current e-cigarette users.

However, there was a difference found in the proportion of current e-cigarette users when comparing men and women and their respective age groups. The most common age group for men to currently use e-cigarettes was 16 to 24 at 8.9%, whereas this was the least common age group for women at 2.6%. The most common age group for women who were current e-cigarette users was those aged 50 to 59 at 7.5%, which was almost 2 percentage points higher than men of this age group. All other age groups showed that men were more likely to currently use e-cigarettes than women.

While it may be too early to identify trends without a longer time series, it is interesting to observe the difference in proportion of current e-cigarette users particularly by age since 2014 (see Figure 6). The findings show that the largest increase in current use was among those aged 16 to 24 years followed by those aged 50 to 59 years. Despite this, the sample on e-cigarette use tends to be small (in 2016, the sample size for those aged 16 to 24 was 538), meaning that random fluctuation is more likely to occur. As such, we will need monitor these trends in the coming years before drawing solid conclusions.

Figure 6: Proportion of current e-cigarette users, all persons by age group Great Britain, 2014 to 2016 Source: Opinions and Lifestyle Survey - Office for National Statistics Download this chart Figure 6: Proportion of current e-cigarette users, all persons by age group Image .csv .xls

The most common reason for using an e-cigarette was as an aid to stop smoking

Both current and ex-smokers stated their main reason for using e-cigarettes was as an aid to stop smoking (50.1% and 48.2% respectively). The second most common reason for both groups was that they perceived e-cigarettes to be less harmful than cigarettes, however, the proportion of ex-smokers stating this reason was almost twice that of current cigarette smokers (35.2% and 18.1% respectively).

The proportion of current e-cigarette users was highest amongst cigarette smokers (13.7%) compared with ex-smokers (12.1%). Interestingly, the average daily cigarette consumption by e-cigarette use was 10.9 for both current e-cigarette users and those who had never used an e-cigarette. The average was slightly higher at 12.8 for ex e-cigarette users.

Of all current e-cigarette users aged 16 and over, just over three-quarters (75.3%) used their e-cigarette every day and a further 15.9% used one at least once a week.

Smokers tend to have a different perception on the harm of e-cigarettes if they have never used an e-cigarette

Recently, there has been growing interest in smokers’ perceptions on the harm of smoking cigarettes relative to harm of using e-cigarettes. In our data, on the whole, smokers tend to have a different perception of e-cigarettes when compared with the perceptions held by ex-smokers and those who have never smoked. Particularly in 2016, smokers were less likely to view e-cigarettes as being less harmful than cigarettes. Smokers’ perceptions, however, were associated with their use of e-cigarettes.

The most negative view of e-cigarettes were held by smokers who have never used one previously. Specifically, 60.8% of smokers who had never used an e-cigarette felt that e-cigarettes were less harmful than cigarettes; this proportion is around 14 percentage points lower than the 75.1% of smokers who have ever used an e-cigarette (that is, current and past use). Interestingly, dual users of cigarettes and e-cigarettes had more accurate perceptions. In 2016, of dual users, 91.1% reported that e-cigarettes were less harmful than cigarettes, something which was also found when looking at 2015 data. Despite this, here it must be noted that the sample of dual users tends to be much lower, due to this behaviour being less common (in 2016, there were 174 dual use respondents who completed the perception of harm questions).

Other characteristics of e-cigarette users

The data discussed in this publication can be found in the datasets tables section of the bulletin.

In the datasets, there is also data for Great Britain and England that has not been included within the commentary including:

self-declared e-cigarette use, by cigarette smoking status, 2016

main reason for using e-cigarettes, 2015 to 2016

e-cigarette use by highest level of qualification, 2014 to 2016

type of e-cigarette used, 2015 to 2016

perceptions of health impact of e-cigarettes on others (who are exposed to them but do not use them directly), by e-cigarette and cigarette smoking status, 2015 to 2016.

There are also supplementary data tables that are available that were conducted for this release based on user feedback.