“This has been a very exciting and challenging year for the UK vaping industry and while there are many great opportunities on the horizon, there are also many big issues which we must tackle head on,” said UKVIA Director General John Dunne.
“Without a doubt, the independent review by Dr Javed Khan into the government’s ambition to make England smoke-free by 2030 highlighted many of the opportunities and I was delighted that it took such a positive view of vaping.”
In March, the UKVIA commissioned the Centre for Economics and Business Research (Cebr) to undertake “the most comprehensive assessment to date” of how the vaping industry contributes to the British economy.
The report is going to be used to help the UKVIA guide its activities during 2023 and the trade body hopes that the insightful data it provides “will also be used by the industry, legislators, regulators, academics and the media.”
The report’s key findings:
- The Cebr report highlights a flourishing, multi-billion pound industry which has positive impacts on employment, the NHS and the nation’s health
- As record numbers of smokers switched to vaping, the industry’s aggregate turnover was valued at £2.8bn last year
- Almost 18,000 full time equivalent jobs in retail, manufacturing and the wider supply chain are supported by the sector
- Smokers switching to vaping are estimated to have resulted in a cost saving to the NHS of over £300m in 2019 alone and
- The UK vape industry contributed revenues of £310m to the Exchequer through taxation in 2021.
“But our industry is under scrutiny like never before and we must tackle the big issues such as under-age vaping, the environmental impact of disposable devices and the massive influx of fake and illegal imports,” adds John Dunne.
“Any one of these issues has the potential to see regulators clamp down hard on vaping and the fact that they are all happening at once, demonstrates that it is crucial that we get our house in order without delay.
“Many of our members are working hard to tackle these issues but we need the entire industry to demonstrate that we have viable solutions to these major obstacles which could prevent us from meeting our full potential to deliver the best smoking alternative ever invented.”
References:
- The UK Vaping Industry Association annual report – https://www.ukvia.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/UKVIA-Annual-Report-2022-final.pdf

Dave Cross
Journalist at POTVDave is a freelance writer; with articles on music, motorbikes, football, pop-science, vaping and tobacco harm reduction in Sounds, Melody Maker, UBG, AWoL, Bike, When Saturday Comes, Vape News Magazine, and syndicated across the Johnston Press group. He was published in an anthology of “Greatest Football Writing”, but still believes this was a mistake. Dave contributes sketches to comedy shows and used to co-host a radio sketch show. He’s worked with numerous start-ups to develop content for their websites.
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