5 Statistics About Vaping That You Need to Know

For years, vaping has been heavily promoted by e-cigarette manufacturers and even some health organizations as a less harmful alternative to smoking. Because of this, many cigarette smokers have switched to vapes, which then led to an increase in vape users globally.

Even in Canada, the total number of people using e-cigarettes has also risen.

But aside from adults, the youth has also hopped on the trend, using these devices as a way to socialize and so on. How vapes work is often a point of curiosity, as these devices heat e-liquid into a vapor for inhalation. Vape manufacturers then see this as an opportunity to design and release more vape devices and e-liquid flavours, garnering more sales than ever before.

If you are curious about the status of vaping in Canada and around the world, you should know these key statistics about vaping. Knowing the vital figures about vaping can help you understand its growth and trends, as well as changes in its usage patterns, sales figures, and target market.

Key Vaping Statistics

In Canada, e-cigarettes have been around for a long time. First introduced in the local market in 2004, these vaping devices were first picked up by smokers who wanted to replace cigarettes and other tobacco products as their main source of nicotine. 

Despite the lack of research regarding their long-term health effects, vape producers promoted and are still promoting e-cigarettes as a better alternative to tobacco products. They have also formulated and produced e-liquids with varying flavours and nicotine strengths, as well as made e-cigarettes more compact and more powerful. 

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All these things have enticed both adult smokers and young adults to use vaping devices.

After two decades of being released in Canada, vapes still exist. As a matter of fact, they have continued to penetrate the market and reach as many consumers as possible. 

So, to gauge the current vaping statistics in Canada, different agencies and organizations have conducted surveys, public opinion research, and scientific research studies. The purpose of these surveys is to understand how Canadians use e-cigarettes, know the latest information about vaping, and assess the vaping product market size.

How Many Adults Vape in Canada?

The number of adults who vape in Canada is lower than young adults.

In 2022, the Canadian Tobacco and Nicotine Survey (CTNS) reported that 1 in 10 Canadians aged 20 to 24 (young adults) and 1 in 50 Canadians aged 25 and older (adults) use vapes daily.

There are numerous potential reasons why e-cigarette use among adults is less than the younger population.

Since many adults who attempt to try and use vapes come from smoking, they are certainly used to the speedy nicotine delivery of cigarettes and tobacco products. Vapes, for some of them, may not be able to satisfy their desired nicotine delivery speed.

E-cigarettes may also not appeal to a number of adult smokers due to the lack of tobacco. Tobacco is known to be a great source of nicotine. Since electronic cigarettes do not burn tobacco and instead only vaporize e-liquids, the satisfaction adults used to get from cigarette smoking does not exist anymore with vapes.

And even though vapes today come in tobacco flavours, some adults may still not find them satisfying to puff. They believe that the lack of authentic tobacco ingredients in e-liquids makes vaping not natural and more dangerous than cigarettes.

Those who use vapes, however, see these devices as a tool for smoking cessation. They also maximize e-cigarettes as a way to quit smoking.

Young adults, alternatively, are more hooked on vaping than adults as most of them haven’t tried cigarettes or other tobacco products. They went straight to vaping as it is more accessible and offers a lot more flavours that they can enjoy.

One common reason why they use a vape is because they want to reduce stress. Young adults also vape as they enjoy the sensation of getting nicotine hits from the e-cigarettes.

How Many Teens Vape?

Teens who vape in Canada are higher in number compared to adult vape users. In fact, the teen vaping rate in the country is among the highest in the world.

In 2022, CTNS reported that 1 in 15 youth aged 15 to 19 use vaping devices every day. Similar to young adults, teens in Canada have never tried or smoked a tobacco cigarette, which is why they are more hooked to vapes.

Canadian Student Tobacco, Alcohol and Drugs Survey from Health Canada also reported that almost 1 in 4 older Canadian high school students have used and tried an e-cigarette.

What is alarming about the rising vape use among teens is their easy access to vapes. Legally, Canada prohibits the sale of vaping products to anyone under the age of 18. CTNS, however, has found out that teens get their vaping devices and vaping liquids from social sources.

Social sources pertain to buying from a family member or friend, asking someone else to buy for them, and having a family member or friend give or lend a vape to them.

As for the vape flavour, more than half of the teens in Canada opt for a fruity one.

Why do Teens Start Vaping?

There are many common reasons why teens start vaping.

First, a lot of them find vaping as a way to reduce stress. As children get into adolescence, a number of them tend to become more stressed due to peer pressure, school work, high expectations from family, social relationships with friends and significant others, and many more.

Since vapes have nicotine from e-liquids, teens use them to get relaxed even for a short time. Nicotine, after all, creates a sense of relaxation immediately after its consumption. This calming feeling, however, is temporary. Hence, teens would vape more just to feel less stressed.

Another reason why teens start vaping is curiosity.

Children and teens are most likely to try new things due to curiosity. And depending on their upbringing or their surroundings, some may witness or see people using vapes regularly. They will then try to use one until they use it regularly.

Some teens may then feel intrigued about the wide range of flavours available for vapes. Cigarette smoke has a default strong taste and smell that many teens and even young adults may not like. Vapes, on the other hand, produce flavourful aerosols, enticing teens to try various e-liquids until they have their preferred flavours.

The latest study by Dr. Laura Struik, which was published in Addictive Behaviors Reports, cited that teens may also take up vaping due to peer pressure. 

When a young individual starts to get acquainted with a group of people who use and normalize vapes, they may start to use one as well to avoid getting behind or being left out. These teens may also find vaping cool and trendy, which is the after-effect of the normalization of vaping.

How Popular Is Vaping?

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the estimated number of smokers around the world is in a small but steady decline. But vaping is getting popular as seen by the rapid increase of vape users worldwide. 

The decline in smoking is most likely due to smokers heeding the health risks associated with cigarette smoking, leading them to reduce or stop their dependence on tobacco products. Some health risks of smoking include lung cancer, heart disease, and stroke.

Smokers have also declined in number as governments and states prohibit smoking cigarettes and others in public spaces. Even the pricing of cigarettes has inflated tremendously due to additional taxes, discouraging teens and young adults from buying them.

Vaping, on the other hand, shares a different story.

In 2011, the estimated number of people using vapes was about 7 million. Ten years later, the Global State of Tobacco Harm Reduction (GSTHR) estimated that the number of vapers worldwide has already reached 82 million, with 16.8 million coming from the Americas. 

While this value is far from the total number of tobacco product users in the world, which is pegged at 1.3 billion, the continuous increase in vape use could one day overlap and take over cigarette use.

The number of teens and young adults who use vapes has also increased dramatically, making these devices popular. 

In the United States and probably other countries, the young population use vapes more than any other tobacco product. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), most middle and high school students used e-cigarettes to consume nicotine in 2023. They mostly use disposable e-cigarettes and vapes with prefilled or refillable pods or cartridges.

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CDC believes that the popularity of vaping among young people is caused by extensive e-cigarette marketing by manufacturers, the availability of flavored vapes and e-liquids, social influences (e.g. peer pressure and social acceptance), and the effects of nicotine.

Aside from the growing number of vape users around the world, vaping is also getting popular as indicated by its value in the global market.

The e-cigarette market expands concurrently with the number of vapers. In 2023, the estimated value of vapes in the global market is USD 27.8 billion. The United States, United Kingdom, and France are known to be the biggest markets for vape products as they have already spent more than USD 10 billion in 2018.

By 2032, the estimated value of the vape market globally may reach USD 66.2 billion.

Vaping Statistics by Age

When it comes to vaping statistics by age, teens and young adults come on top as the primary consumers of e-cigarettes.

Many surveys and research have found a substantial increase in vape use among teens and young adults. A report from WHO/Europe found that 32% of teens, particularly 15-year-olds, had used e-cigarettes at least once in their lives. 20% of them had also used e-cigarettes in the past 30 days. 

In comparison, only 25% of 15-year-olds have tried smoking a traditional cigarette, while 15% of them have smoked this tobacco product in the last 30 days.

A similar thing has occurred when surveying 13-year-old teens. 

16% of them have already tried using an e-cigarette, compared with 11% who have smoked a cigarette. 9% of 13-year-olds also report using an e-cigarette in the last 30 days compared to 5% who smoked a cigarette in the last 30 days.

The percentage of Canadians aged 15 to 19 who have tried vaping is at 30% in 2022. One in seven Canadians in this age group is known to vape continuously.

The high number of vape users among teens can be attributed to peer pressure, social influences, curiosity, and the desire to relieve stress.

Young adults, who are aged 18 to 24, make up the highest users of e-cigarettes (11%) around the world. Most of them come from 23- to 24-year-olds. In Canada, 47.5% of young adults have tried vaping at least once in their lives—one in five Canadians in this age group vape regularly.

They tend to use e-cigarettes as part of their quick breaks during the day. Young adults also vape to ease tension and stress.

E-cigarette use among adults, alternatively, is not as rampant as compared to the vape usage of teens and young adults.

Since 2012, the number of e-cigarette users among adults has remained low and stable. While it has gone up slightly in 2022, only 6% of the total vaping population comes from adults. In Canada, 14.7% of Canadians aged 25 years and older have tried using e-cigarettes. One in 50 Canadians in this age group is using vapes regularly.

Adults aged 25 years and older see vapes as an alternative to smoking. They use e-cigarettes to help them gradually reduce nicotine dependence and quit smoking.

If you are curious about the origin of vaping and other related facts, you can read them here.

Buying Vapes Statistics

The amount spent on buying vapes in Canada has ballooned tremendously.

In 2024, Statista expects the projected revenue in the e-cigarette market of Canada to reach USD 1.4 billion. Without unexpected intervention from the government and the international vaping scene, the vaping market may experience an annual growth rate of 3.76%. A key reason behind the growth of the vaping market is the consumer demand for better smoking alternatives.

While Statista still projects traditional cigarettes to generate a revenue of USD 12.3 billion this year, its annual growth rate (1.10%) has become lower than the anticipated growth rate of the vaping market. As a matter of fact, cigarette sales in Canada have already declined. From 42 billion sticks in 2001, cigarette sales in Canada in 2021 have only reached 21 billion sticks.

The health risks associated with smoking cigarettes have been long discovered through medical research and scientific studies. Cigarette smoke contains tar, carcinogens, nicotine, and other harmful chemicals, making it a source of lung cancer, stroke, heart disease, and others.

Vaping, with its branding as less harmful to cigarettes, is slowly climbing to the top as the perfect replacement for smoking. 

While the medical facts about vaping say otherwise, the increase in total sales of vapes and e-liquids as well as the proliferation of vaping brands and retailers in Canada only prove that the vaping market is currently profitable.

Between 2016 and 2019, a study found that the number of vaping retailers in Ontario increased from 5,999 to 7,355. 

Additionally, around 60% of urban neighborhoods had been filled with one or more vaping retailers within a thousand meters of their respective centers. Most elementary, secondary, and post-secondary schools also had at least one vaping store within the same distance.

The same thing may be happening in other places in Canada, which makes e-cigarettes and e-liquids more accessible to teens, young adults, and adults.

As for vaping brands, a lot of them have entered the Canadian market as the rise of vape users continues. These brands include Elf Bar, Juul, Vuse, and blu. They even introduced a wide range of vape models to the market, enticing consumers to buy the latest e-cigarettes out there.

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Despite the increase in vape sales, the Canadian government is still wary about the overall safety of vaping, especially in the long term. Hence, Health Canada in 2009 first issued an advisory against the use of vaping devices. 

Ten years later, the same department issued another advisory, this time cautioning Canadians about an outbreak of pulmonary disease and death related to vaping. It recommends vape users stop vaping if they manifest symptoms associated with e-cigarette or vaping product use-associated lung injury or EVALI.

Vape sales, however, continue to rise amidst the advisories released by the government. The federal government, therefore, implemented more measures to make vape devices more difficult to access, especially for teens and young adults.

On July 1, vape pods are set to increase in price by adding 12 to 24 cents of tax. This change in pricing will help the government generate CAD 310 million over the next five years. The government also expects vape users, especially the youth, to decrease their puffing sessions.

Worldwide Vaping Statistics

During the 1960s, almost half of Americans smoked cigarettes and tobacco products. This value, however, has declined over the next few decades as many of them turn to vaping.

The engaging marketing campaigns by vape manufacturers, as well as the growth of vape retailers around the world, have led to a steady rise in vape use among adults and the youth. Advocating vapes as a safer alternative to cigarettes has also led to the popularity of vaping.

But the dominance of vaping differs from one country to another.

Some nations tend to be more lenient in terms of vape sales, while others are known to be strict. A number of countries have even banned the sale of vaping products altogether.

As of writing, 34 countries have already banned vapes. They include Brazil, India, Iran, and Thailand. While other nations try to do the same, they have encountered challenges in enforcing vaping rules. In the end, those who want to vape just buy their e-cigarettes on the black market, which causes more harm to the vaping population.

On the other hand, 74 countries do not impose any regulations on vaping devices. It only means people in these countries are free to buy and use vapes without any restrictions.

What Country Vapes the Most?

Based on the data available from Emerald Insight, the estimated number of e-cigarette users in 2021 is 82 million. This value is then distributed to various regions.

9.2 million e-cigarette users come from the Eastern Mediterranean region, while 5.6 million vape users are from the African region. Additionally, the European region has a whopping 20.1 million vape users, while 16.8 million users come from the Americas. The Western Pacific region has 16.0 million vape users, while Southeast Asia has 14.3 million users of e-cigarettes.

Data from the Global Adult Tobacco Survey then revealed the countries that vape the most.

The number one country in the world that has the most vape users is Russia. While tobacco use in this country is still high, the use of e-cigarettes is also catching up in figures. The continuous increase in vape use in this country is also driven by the government’s decision not to restrict or ban any flavours and disposable vapes.

The only restriction Russia implemented is that minors cannot buy vaping devices.

The second country with the most e-cigarette users based on the same data is Romania. For decades, Romania has carried out efforts to reduce smoking in the country. But as an alternative, young adults and adults in the country turn to vape use to get their nicotine cravings.

As a way to reduce vape use in the country, the government has implemented notable measures like prohibiting flavoured vaping, banning vending machines that sell vape products, and involving educational institutions in formulating regulations related to vape use.

The third country that uses the most vaping devices globally is Greece.

One interesting fact about vape users in Greece is that many of them are current or former smokers. The country has also not banned disposable vapes. There are likewise no legal restrictions on the use of e-cigarettes in public places. Hence, it would not be surprising to see a continuous increase in e-cigarette use in the country.

How Does it Compare to Canada?

While Canada is not one of the top countries with the most vape users in the world, it is currently having a hard time controlling the accessibility of vapes, especially to teens.

One of the issues Canada has to deal with is the continuous increase in vape use among teens, especially those aged 15 to 19. Legally, selling or providing vaping products to Canadians under the age of 18 is prohibited. Teens, however, can still access vapes as they can acquire or borrow them from their adult friends and family members.

Another factor that leads to a high percentage of teens and young adults using vapes is the lack of federal regulations regarding vaping. The federal government has already proposed regulations to ban flavourings from being added to e-cigarettes and many more. But as of writing, a strong federal flavour ban still does not exist.

But laws and regulations in Canada do exist to protect both vapers and non-vapers.

Given the unknown health risks of vape aerosols in the long-term, the Federal Bill S-5 has been amended to accommodate vaping. This amendment includes the use of vape in the Non-smoker’s Health Act, prohibiting vape use in public spaces like schools, libraries, hospitals, malls, restaurants, and indoor workplaces. 

Vaping product regulations are also implemented to protect vape users. 

These regulations include prohibiting the sale of vaping products with more than 20mg/ml of nicotine content, following proper labelling requirements for e-cigarettes, displaying health warnings on the packaging of vape products, and submitting vaping product sales and ingredients to Health Canada.

Frequently Asked Questions

What Are Some Statistics About Vaping?

In 2021, the estimated number of vape users around the world has reached 82 million. The top three countries with the highest vaping population are Russia, Romania, and Greece. 34 countries, so far, have already banned or limited vape use. 74 countries, alternatively, do not impose any regulations on vaping devices. The market value of vape pens globally is estimated to be USD 40 billion in 2023.

What Do Statistics Show About Vaping?

Vaping statistics show that it is getting popular very quickly, especially among teens and young adults. Vapes are the new “cigarettes” of the current generation, treating them as an aid to relieve stress and an alternative to smoking tobacco products. Statistics regarding vape use also show the continuous growth of the vape market, indicating the need for further research and stricter regulations to regulate vape access and usage.

What Percentage of Risk Is Vape?

The health risk percentage of vaping is high for current e-cigarette users. According to a study from the School of Public Health and School of Medicine, using e-cigarettes can be associated with a 31% increase in asthma risk, 33% increase in chronic bronchitis risk, 57% increase in chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases or COPD risk, and 69% increase in emphysema risk. 

What Are the Statistics on Vaping in Canada?

In Canada, e-cigarette use was most prevalent among teens and young adults, with 5% of the total Canadian population using e-cigarettes daily. The teen vaping rate in the country is among the highest globally. Adult vape users, alternatively, are mostly former or current smokers. The prevalence of past-30-day vaping among adults is at 3.9%.

What Is the Rate of Vaping in Canada?

According to the Canadian Tobacco and Nicotine Survey, 6% of Canadians aged 15 and older had reported using vapes for the past 30 days. 14% of Canadians aged 15 to 19 were more likely to use vapes compared to 4% of Canadians aged 25 and older. These vaping rates are close to the data gathered from the Canadian Community Health Survey.

Summary

For years, vaping has gained popularity around the world as it is heavily advertised as a less harmful alternative to smoking. Social influences and peer pressure are also determined to be the main reasons why individuals, especially the younger generation, start vaping. Dangerous myths about vaping have likewise led to its popularity today.

The traction vaping has gained today is heavily evidenced by the increasing vaping population, as well as the increasing demand for vape devices and flavors.

In Canada, the use of e-cigarettes continues to soar, with teens and young adults leading the vaping population in the country. To somehow regulate vape use, the country has implemented laws that can protect vape users from potential nicotine addiction and other health risks related to vape aerosols. Non-vapers are also protected by prohibiting vape use in public spaces.