For years now we have heard a lot of stories about the positive impacts that vaping is having on the lives of former smokers who have switched to the reduced-risk nicotine alternative.
However, we have not really had any detailed hard data on the effects that the vaping industry is having on the economy…until now.
The UKVIA commissioned the Centre for Economics and Business Research (Cebr) to conduct an in-depth report into the economic contributions of the UK’s vaping industry.
The findings – which will be available on this site tomorrow – not only look at the national picture but also drill down to a regional level.
The report considers both the direct economic contributions made by the sector and then highlights the indirect (supply chain) and induced (wider spending) impacts too.
It also includes the findings of a bespoke vaping survey which identifies a number of significant trends across the vaping industry over the last few years.
These trends range from consumption of vaping products to the reasons given by consumers for switching from smoking to vaping.
The Cebr report entitled ‘Economic impact assessment of the vaping industry’ shines a spotlight on the sector’s turnover, the gross value it adds to the economy, the numbers of full-time equivalent jobs it creates and employee pay.
It calculates the contribution the vape industry makes to the Exchequer in terms of taxation and identifies the regional economic impacts for Scotland, Northern Ireland, the North East, North West, Yorkshire and the Humber, East Midlands, West Midlands, Wales, East of England, London, the South East and the South West.
Crucially, at a time when NHS funding levels are making front page news, the report examines the wider socio-economic spill over benefits from smokers switching to vaping.
For the first time, it puts numbers to the savings made by the NHS from smokers switching to vaping and the associated productivity gains that feed into the wider economy.
The recent Khan Review on Tobacco Control called on the UK Government to make vaping a key pillar of its 2030 smoke-free ambitions and this report gives solid data on the health savings this could generate.
It shows current healthcare savings due to smokers switching to vaping and also highlights a potential series of modelled future savings for scenarios where an additional 1%, 10% and 50% of smokers successfully switched.
UKVIA Director General John Dunne said: “There can be no doubt at all that the UK vape industry is one of the greatest British success stories of modern times.
“At a time when businesses, up and down the country, vanished from the High Street in huge numbers, it was often specialist vape stores which sprung up to take their places.
“We knew this had a positive impact on employment, the economy and in healthcare savings but until now we had no idea how extensive this was.
“The UK vaping industry is already the envy of the world, but we hope the publication of this economic impact assessment will give politicians, regulators and health professionals the hard data to allow them to support vaping even more.
“The industry has done so much good in helping smokers switch to a less harmful nicotine alternative but there is so much more to be done yet.
“I want to thank the Cebr for putting together such a detailed, well-structured and data-driven report which should be required reading for all stakeholders in the vaping industry – not just in the UK but throughout the world.
“This report demonstrates the huge benefits vaping has brought to the UK and there is no reason, that with progressive regulation, similar benefits could not be seen in those countries which currently have a less favourable approach to vaping.”
ENDS