Vaping and smoking amongst learners in year 7 to 11 in Wales

The proportion of young people vaping has risen substantially in Wales and across Great Britain in recent years, despite the fact that it has been illegal to sell a vape to anyone under 18 since 2015.

The evidence suggests that the availability of disposable devices and the ways in which vapes are marketed have strongly contributed to their appeal amongst this group.

A number of pieces of legislation have been announced to address rises in vaping amongst young people, including banning the sale of tobacco products to anyone born after 1 January 2009, banning sale of disposable vapes and restricting marketing of vapes in ways likely to appeal especially to children and young people.The evidence strongly suggests that these approaches would reduce the numbers of young people in Wales taking up smoking and vaping.

The data presented are based on 129,761 learners from year 7 to 11 from 201 schools in Wales responding to The Student Health and Well.