82 Million Vapers in 2021

In 2021, the Global State of Tobacco Harm Reduction (GSTHR) project published the first ever worldwide estimate of the number of vapers, which stood at 68 million in 2020.  The GSTHR now estimates that there were 82 million vapers worldwide in 2021.

 




In 2021, the Global State of Tobacco Harm Reduction (GSTHR) project published the first ever worldwide estimate of the number of vapers, which stood at 68 million in 2020. New data from the February 2021 Eurobarometer 506 survey and other surveys offered a unique opportunity to update that figure. They also modified othe projection process by taking both regional variations in market size and the actual year of origin of the underlying data into account. The GSTHR now estimates that there were 82 million vapers worldwide in 2021.
 

Why are the GSTHR conducting this research?

 
Nicotine is one of the world’s most popular drugs, alongside alcohol and caffeine. Most people consume nicotine by smoking tobacco cigarettes, with an estimate eight million premature deaths from smoking-related disease each year. This is three times more than the number who die from malaria, HIV and tuberculosis combined. Vaping offers a significantly safer alternative for the 1.1 billion people around the world who continue to smoke, with the NHS, Public Health England and Royal College of Physicians agreeing that vaping is around 95% less harmful than traditional smoking.

There has been rapid uptake of nicotine vaping products in some countries in Europe and in North America. In the UK the proportion of the adult population using nicotine vaping products rose from 1.7% in 2012 to 7.1% in 2019. Data from the UK suggest a substitution effect, whereby many people who consume nicotine are choosing safer products. Nicotine vaping products are now the main tool that smokers use when they want to quit cigarettes in England. Research has also shown they are more successful than other methods.
 
Nicotine vaping devices and other safer nicotine products (SNP), including nicotine pouches, snus and heated tobacco products, are potentially disruptive innovations. As such, they have considerable potential to improve population health by displacing tobacco smoking. A key question is the rate at which SNP are replacing tobacco cigarettes. Mapping the uptake of nicotine vaping products is therefore important, but it is extremely difficult for many countries due to the cost.
 
Since 2018, the GSTHR has been collecting information on the prevalence of nicotine vaping as well as other SNP categories. The project maps the global, regional and national availability and use of SNP, the regulatory responses to them, and the public health potential of tobacco harm reduction. Information is collected from the literature and a network of national and regional correspondents across 201 countries (262 including territories and significant within-country regions). The GSTHR database compiles country-based information over time and product categories.
 

What is the GSTHR estimation of the global number of vapers in 2021?

The estimated global number of vapers in 2021 is 81.9 million.
 
Compared to previous estimates, the 2021 figure shows a significant growth. We should keep in mind that underrepresented regions and income groups have a large impact on distorting the results.
 

You can read the full article here:

https://gsthr.org/briefing-papers/82-million-vapers-worldwide-in-2021-the-gsthr-estimate/