New data collected by the world’s leading market intelligence agency, Mintel, has confirmed that over the past year the continuing growth of the e-cigarette market has been accompanied by a comparable contraction of the smoking cessation market. The 4% boost in vaping brand sales in 2014 was matched by a 4% decrease in nicotine replacement therapy products.
This is the first recorded drop in a market sector that enjoyed a previously inexorable rise since it came into being in the early 1990s. Figures show the market fell from £136 million in 2013 to £130 million last year, while the vaping sector expanded from £193m to £201m, suggesting that Britons appear to favour vaping ahead of ‘traditional’ stop-smoking aids, such as Nicorette.
That the same research showed that 82% of e-cigarette users view their devices as helpful in cutting down on tobacco products, gives yet more evidence that vaping is very widely regarded as a positive lifestyle choice. Moreover, 13% of smokers now simply vape instead, suggesting that devices such as multiCIG and multiVAPE represent a viable alternative to a significant proportion of the UK population.
There is also every reason to believe that the smoking cessation market will face further challenges from the vaping industry when e-cig products delivering nicotine over 20mg/ml are reclassified as ‘medicinal’ under upcoming legislation.
While we make no claim that our products can help people give up smoking, there is growing evidence that many people see them, and those like them, as an important part of their individual strategy when looking to change their habits for the better.
As ever we have confidence in our products and welcome the fact that more research is now being done into the benefits to public health of vaping over smoking.
