Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an estimate of the number and proportion of school-age children who (a) smoke cigarettes and (b) use (i) vapes and (ii) e-cigarettes.

Data on the number and proportion of school-age children aged 11 to 15 years who are regular vapers is available at the following link:

https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/smoking-drinking-and-drug-use-among-young-people-in-england/2021

The latest data available for 2021 shows that the number of children aged 11 to 15 years who currently smoke cigarettes is 101,189, equating to 3%, while the number of children in the same age group who currently use vapes (e-cigarettes) is 288,159, equating to 8.6%.

Survey data from Action on Smoking and Health on youth vaping from 2023 is also available at the following link:

https://ash.org.uk/resources/view/use-of-e-cigarettes-among-young-people-in-great-britain