NEWS
E-CIGARETTE
MARKET MAY
SOON HIT A
PLATEAU
With smoking rates falling,
some financial experts predict
growing pains for vaping
By Leo Forfar
A report in the Financial Times in March suggested that “the
rate of growth in UK vaping numbers is slowing” and that the
“UK is [the] second biggest e-cigarette market but not everyone
is convinced growth can last.” pace in economic powerhouses which were once strongholds.
Cancer Research UK measured smoking rates in 2015 as 17.2
percent (16.9 per cent in England), down from 20.1 percent
only five years prior.
When considered in conjunction with other recent developments
in falling smoking rates, tighter tobacco control and ongoing
e-cigarette regulation, a peak followed by slowdown is a distinct
possibility. A similar report from the Center for Disease Control (CDC)
measured US adult cigarette consumption at an all-time low:
15.5 percent as of 2016, that’s a 5.4 percent drop in eleven
years. This trend has also been seen in Australia, with the
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare in 2014 finding that
the smoking rate had fallen to below 13 percent for the first
time.
“After an initial surge, the rate of growth in UK vaping numbers
is slowing: data from public health charity Action on Smoking
and Health reports only 100,000 new vapers in 2017 compared
with 800,000 in 2014 and the total number of UK e-cigarette
users has plateaued since 2016.”
Due to its main purpose as a tool for smoking cessation,
analysis of the e-cigarette market is inseparable from the The World Health Organisation’s global report on trends in
prevalence of tobacco smoking (published in 2015) contains
the most accurate overview we have on tobacco consumption
from now until 2025, as well as the most thorough survey of
current rates in almost every country. It covers 90 percent of
Smoking and Big Tobacco are taking big hits. Smoking rates
are already at a record low and are falling at an accelerated No ethical vape company would sell or market to anyone who
tobacco market and the nicotine product market as a whole.
With this in mind, it’s natural that only so much growth can
be expected for vapour products, as smokers are the default
starter demographic for the vaping industry.
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the global population. The exhaustive report predicts the global
smoking rate to fall from 22.1 percent down to 18.9 percent – a
relative reduction rate of 14 percent. The report came off the
heels of the World Health Organization Framework Convention
on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC) which was started in 2005.