Fewer Scottish teenagers are picking up a vape. New survey data published by the Scottish Government shows that teen vaping in Scotland has fallen for a second consecutive year. Even so, the products remain remarkably easy for young people to find.

The figures come from the 2026 ASH Smokefree GB Youth Survey. YouGov runs the annual study on behalf of Action on Smoking and Health. This year’s Scottish sample included 767 adolescents aged eleven to seventeen, surveyed between April and May 2026.

Teen Vaping in Scotland: A Second Year of Decline

Just 5.6% of Scottish adolescents said they currently vape, down from 7.3% in 2025 and 7.4% in 2024. Similarly, those who had ever tried a vape fell slightly, from 19.5% to 18.0%.

Cigarette smoking followed the same downward path. Only 3.0% of respondents now count as current smokers, compared with 4.8% a year earlier. Similarly, ever smoking dropped, from 18.1% to 15.2%.

Still, teen vaping in Scotland is not falling evenly across age groups. Older teenagers remain far more likely to vape than younger ones. Among sixteen year olds, 14.1% said they currently vape. The figure stood at 11.1% for seventeen year olds. Meanwhile, boys were also considerably more likely than girls to have ever smoked, at 18.7% against 11.5%.

Among the 46 current vapers surveyed, fourteen also smoked cigarettes. Twelve had never touched a cigarette at all.

Friends, Not Shops, Still Drive Youth Vape Use

Despite falling numbers, youth vape use continues to spread mainly through social circles rather than shop counters. More than three quarters of adolescents who had ever vaped, 76.1%, said their first vape came from someone they knew. Almost always, that someone was a friend. Only 11.9% said they had bought their first vape themselves, and a further 8.2% admitted taking one without permission.

Cigarettes followed a similar pattern. Indeed, nearly three quarters of ever smokers, 74.6%, first tried a cigarette given to them by a friend or relative.

Curiosity, rather than addiction or peer pressure, was the reason most commonly cited for trying a vape at all. Almost half of ever vapers, 46.9%, simply said they wanted to give it a try. Peer influence came a distant second at 18.5%, followed by the appeal of flavours at 8.8%.

Once teenagers become regular users, though, the picture shifts. Among current vapers, peer influence overtakes curiosity as the leading reason for continued youth vape use, followed closely by flavours.

Getting Hold of a Vape Remains Easy

Access has not become noticeably harder despite falling prevalence. Overall, thirty two of the 46 current vapers said it was easy to get hold of vapes. However, just one found it difficult. Regulated shops, including supermarkets, newsagents and vape shops, still supplied the products to most regular users. This is despite the disposable vape ban introduced in June 2025, which was meant to close off a major route to market.

That ban does appear to have reshaped what teenagers actually use, even if it has not stopped teen vaping in Scotland altogether. In 2024, six in ten current vapers used disposable devices. By 2026, that had reversed. Rechargeable vapes now dominate, used by 69.0% of current vapers, while disposables have fallen to 20.6%. A small group of ten respondents said they still use disposables since the ban. Most of those said they can still get hold of them.

Marketing Still Reaches Teenagers Who Never Went Looking

Vape advertising remains highly visible to young people, whether or not they set out to notice it. Among those aware of vapes, 54.8% said they had seen promotion inside shops. A further 46.7%, a category added to the survey for the first time this year, reported seeing it displayed outside shops on posters and signage.

Online exposure is smaller but still substantial, at 27.1%. Where teenagers do encounter vape marketing online, TikTok leads by a wide margin. It was cited by 43.3% of those exposed, ahead of Snapchat, YouTube and Instagram.

Notably, corner shops appear to expose adolescents to vape displays far more often than supermarkets do. That pattern has held steady since 2024.

Addiction and Harm Are Not Lost on Teenagers

Many current vapers already recognise the pull of the habit. In fact, of the 46 current vapers surveyed, twenty seven described themselves as at least a little addicted. Meanwhile, perceptions of relative harm remain mixed. Just 13.6% believe vaping is more harmful than smoking. Nearly half, 45.2%, think the two carry about the same risk, while 27.3% see vaping as less harmful.

A more troubling finding concerns older teenagers using vapes for purposes beyond nicotine. Among sixteen and seventeen year old ever vapers, eighteen said they had used a substance other than nicotine in a vape during the past year. Alcohol, caffeine and cannabis were the most common. A third of that group said they had not even known the substance was there until after they had used it.

Teenagers Back Tougher Rules

If the survey points to one clear message from young people themselves, it is support for further restriction rather than looser rules. More than eight in ten respondents backed a ban on bright colours, cartoon characters and sweet sounding names on vape packaging. A near identical share supported banning vape advertising at shop tills and entrances. Nearly three quarters wanted limits on how flavours can be described.

Support for restricting smoking in public spaces was stronger still. Ninety four percent backed a ban on smoking in children’s play areas. A similar share supported bans on school grounds, up from around 91% in 2025.

Taken together, the figures suggest that the recent dip in teen vaping in Scotland has not happened because the products became harder to reach. It has happened despite continued informal supply through friends. It has happened despite visible marketing in shops and online. It has happened despite a black market that adapted quickly to the disposable vape ban. Young people themselves seem to understand this better than the wider policy debate sometimes credits them for. Large majorities are calling for tighter controls on packaging, flavours and advertising, not a return to the status quo on youth vape use.

Source: dbrecoveryresources