Key Points
- Women aged 25–34 reached a series high: The vaping rate among women aged 25 to 34 rose to 18.3% in 2025, up 4.6 percentage points from 2024 and 10 percentage points from 2020, the highest estimate since data collection began in 2014.
- The leading age group shifted: Adults aged 25 to 34 had a vaping prevalence of 16.4%, overtaking the 16-to-24 age group, where prevalence stood at 12.9%.
- Gender differences varied by age: Overall vaping prevalence among women aged 16 and over was 9.6%, compared with 10.2% among men. Among 25-to-34-year-olds, however, the estimates were 18.3% for women and 14.4% for men.
- Overall prevalence remained stable: Approximately 5.4 million adults in Great Britain used e-cigarettes in 2025, accounting for 9.9% of people aged 16 and over, compared with 10.0% in 2024.
2Firsts
October 13, 2026
The proportion of women aged 25 to 34 using e-cigarettes in Great Britain reached 18.3% in 2025, up from 13.7% in 2024 and 8.3% in 2020, according to figures released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) on October 6, 2026.
The rate was the highest recorded for this demographic since the ONS began collecting vaping data in 2014. It was also the highest point estimate among all age and sex groups covered by the 2025 survey.
By comparison, vaping prevalence among men aged 25 to 34 stood at 14.4%. Across all adults aged 16 and over, the rate was 9.6% for women and 10.2% for men.
An analysis by 2Firsts of the ONS's underlying data from 2014 to 2025 shows diverging trends across age and sex groups, even as overall vaping prevalence stabilized in 2025. The longer-term increase among women aged 25 to 34 contrasts with a decline in vaping prevalence among adults aged 16 to 24 since 2023.
The figures come from the ONS Opinions and Lifestyle Survey (OPN), covering people aged 16 and over in England, Scotland and Wales, but excluding Northern Ireland. Current e-cigarette use includes both daily and occasional vaping.
Vaping Rate Among Women Aged 25–34 Climbs From 5.4% in 2014 to 18.3% in 2025
The ONS's underlying dataset, published as Table 8, shows that vaping prevalence among women aged 25 to 34 increased from 5.4% in 2014 to 18.3% in 2025, a rise of 12.9 percentage points.
The increase was not continuous throughout the period.
Between 2014 and 2018, vaping prevalence among women in this age group fluctuated between 4.7% and 5.7%. It rose to 10.5% in 2019 before falling to 8.3% in 2020.
Subsequently, the rate increased from 8.4% in 2021 to 9.7% in 2022 and 10.4% in 2023. It reached 13.7% in 2024 before rising to 18.3% in 2025.
The 2025 estimate was 10 percentage points higher than in 2020, equivalent to an increase of approximately 1.2 times the 2020 prevalence rate. The figures measure the proportion of women in this age group who reported using e-cigarettes, rather than changes in sales volumes or market revenue.
The 95% confidence interval for the 2025 estimate was 14.4% to 22.2%, compared with 10.6% to 16.7% in 2024. Although the point estimates increased by 4.6 percentage points, an approximate independent-sample test based on the published confidence intervals does not establish statistical significance at the conventional 5% level.
The longer time series provides a broader view of vaping behavior among women aged 25 to 34. The ONS also advises caution when comparing estimates across years because of changes in survey frequency, collection methods and vaping-status questions, particularly around 2020.
The agency considers the overall current-vaping measure broadly comparable across the series, while some more detailed usage categories have undergone changes in definition.
Overall Female Vaping Rate Remains Below Men's, but Women Aged 25–34 Lead All Demographic Groups
Across Great Britain, 10.2% of men and 9.6% of women aged 16 and over reported current e-cigarette use in 2025.
The respective rates were 10.1% and 10.0% in 2024, indicating little movement among men and a modest decline in the female estimate.
Among adults aged 25 to 34, the figures followed a different pattern.
Women in this age group recorded a vaping prevalence of 18.3% in 2025, compared with 14.4% among men, a gap of 3.9 percentage points between the published estimates.
The relationship has changed over time.
In 2020, vaping prevalence was 8.3% among women aged 25 to 34 and 8.9% among men. By 2022, the respective figures had increased to 9.7% and 11.6%. In 2023, men's prevalence remained higher at 15.0%, compared with 10.4% among women.
The female estimate overtook the male estimate in 2024, reaching 13.7% against 12.0%. The figures stood at 18.3% and 14.4%, respectively, in 2025.
The 95% confidence interval for women aged 25 to 34 in 2025 was 14.4% to 22.2%, compared with 10.6% to 18.3% for men. Because the intervals overlap, the published figures alone do not establish that the underlying female prevalence was statistically significantly higher than the male rate.
Nevertheless, the female point estimate of 18.3% was the highest among the ONS's age-by-sex groups in 2025.
Over the longer period from 2014 to 2025, vaping prevalence increased by 12.9 percentage points among women aged 25 to 34, compared with 9.1 percentage points among men of the same age.
Across all adults aged 16 and over, female vaping prevalence rose from 3.4% to 9.6%, while the male rate increased from 4.0% to 10.2%.
The figures show that differences in vaping prevalence between women and men vary substantially by age, rather than following a uniform pattern across the adult population.
Daily Vaping Reaches 11.2% Among Women Aged 25–34, With 7.1% Reporting Occasional Use
In addition to overall vaping prevalence, the ONS dataset distinguishes between daily and occasional e-cigarette users.
In 2025, 11.2% of women aged 25 to 34 reported using e-cigarettes daily, while a further 7.1% reported occasional use. Together, these groups accounted for the 18.3% current-vaping estimate.
Among men of the same age, daily vaping prevalence was 9.9%, and occasional use stood at 4.6%, against a published total of 14.4%. The sum of the components differs slightly from the total because of rounding.
The dataset also shows that 10.0% of women aged 25 to 34 had previously used e-cigarettes but were no longer current users, while 71.7% said they had never used them.
Among men in the same age group, 11.2% reported previous use, and 74.3% reported never having used e-cigarettes.
The ONS category for previous use includes respondents who formerly vaped regularly, those who used e-cigarettes occasionally, and those who tried them without continuing. It should therefore not be interpreted solely as a measure of people who have quit vaping after sustained use.
Changes to the survey's vaping questions before and during 2020 also mean that detailed daily and occasional use measures cannot be compared directly with all earlier years in the same way as overall current-vaping prevalence.
Adults Aged 25–34 Overtake 16–24-Year-Olds as the Group With the Highest Vaping Rate
The increase in vaping prevalence among women aged 25 to 34 occurred alongside a broader change in the age distribution of current e-cigarette use.
According to the ONS, adults aged 16 to 24 had the highest vaping prevalence among age groups between 2021 and 2024. In 2025, they were overtaken by those aged 25 to 34.
The vaping rate among 25-to-34-year-olds reached 16.4% in 2025, up from 12.9% in 2024. Among 16-to-24-year-olds, prevalence was 12.9%, compared with 13.0% a year earlier.
The two age groups have followed different recent trajectories.
In 2023, vaping prevalence stood at 15.9% among people aged 16 to 24 and 12.7% among those aged 25 to 34.
Among the younger group, the rate subsequently declined to 13.0% in 2024 and 12.9% in 2025. Among 25-to-34-year-olds, it reached 16.4% in 2025.
The age-by-sex data provide further detail.
In 2025, vaping prevalence among women aged 16 to 24 stood at 15.7%, compared with 10.2% among men of the same age. For those aged 25 to 34, the female and male rates were 18.3% and 14.4%, respectively.
Both female age groups therefore recorded higher point estimates than their male counterparts.
Among people aged 35 and over, however, male vaping prevalence exceeded female prevalence in each age group reported by the ONS.
Vaping Prevalence by Age and Sex in Great Britain, 2025
| Age group | Women | Men | Female–male gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 16–24 | 15.7% | 10.2% | +5.5 pp |
| 25–34 | 18.3% | 14.4% | +3.9 pp |
| 35–49 | 9.5% | 12.6% | -3.1 pp |
| 50–59 | 7.7% | 12.3% | -4.6 pp |
| 60 and over | 4.0% | 5.2% | -1.2 pp |
| All aged 16+ | 9.6% | 10.2% | -0.6 pp |
Among women, the 25-to-34 age group recorded a higher point estimate than any other age group in 2025. The rate among women aged 16 to 24 was also relatively high at 15.7%. Their confidence intervals overlap, so the published estimates do not establish a statistically significant difference between the two female age groups.
The ranking change between 16-to-24-year-olds and 25-to-34-year-olds reflects differences in repeated cross-sectional survey estimates. The data do not track the same individuals over time and cannot establish whether users in the younger age group subsequently moved into the older group.
Britain's Vaping Population Holds at About 5.4 Million Despite Changes Among Women Aged 25–34
While vaping prevalence among women aged 25 to 34 reached a series high in 2025, overall e-cigarette use in Great Britain remained broadly unchanged from the previous year.
The ONS estimated that approximately 5.4 million adults aged 16 and over used e-cigarettes daily or occasionally in 2025, representing 9.9% of the population in that age range.
The estimated number of users was also approximately 5.4 million in 2024, when prevalence stood at 10.0%.
Over the longer term, overall vaping prevalence rose from 3.7% in 2014 to 6.4% in 2020 and 10.0% in 2024, before edging down to 9.9% in 2025.
The ONS's Opinions and Lifestyle Survey also estimated that 4.8 million adults in Great Britain currently smoked cigarettes in 2025, representing 8.7% of people aged 16 and over, down from 9.1% in 2024.
Current e-cigarette users consequently outnumbered current cigarette smokers for a second consecutive year, following the first crossover in 2024.
The UK's official cigarette-smoking prevalence estimate is produced separately from the Annual Population Survey (APS), which covers adults aged 18 and over across all four UK nations. That measure stood at 9.8% in 2025.
The APS and OPN estimates should not be directly compared because they differ in geographical coverage, age range and definitions of current cigarette smoking.
The stability of overall vaping prevalence is consistent with divergent trends across demographic groups. According to the ONS, vaping prevalence declined across all age groups other than those aged 25 to 34 between 2024 and 2025.
The ONS data do not establish whether changes among women aged 25 to 34 were driven by particular product formats, flavors, marketing activity or retail channels. Nor do the prevalence estimates identify the contribution of any demographic group to sales volumes or industry revenue.
The figures nevertheless identify a distinct demographic pattern in 2025: women aged 25 to 34 recorded their highest vaping prevalence since ONS records began in 2014, while overall vaping prevalence in Great Britain remained broadly stable.
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