New data from the Schools Health Research Network (SHRN) Student Health and Well-being Survey shows a significant fall in vaping among children and young people in Wales compared with 2023. The survey is completed every two years by more than 130,000 learners in years 7 to 11 in mainstream secondary schools across Wales.

The fall coincides with a period of increasing public and policy focus on youth vaping including the introduction of a ban on single use vapes in June 2025. Evidence on the impact of the ban is still emerging and it is not yet possible to determine the extent to which it contributed to the changes seen in this survey, however the fall in vaping amongst this age group is consistent with evidence from other sources that vaping rates fell after the announcement of the ban on disposable vapes.

The Tobacco and Vapes Act, which became law after the survey was completed, introduces further measures aimed at reducing the appeal of vaping to children and young people, including restrictions on flavours, packaging, display and marketing. The high-profile public discussion surrounding this legislation may also have influenced attitudes and behaviours.

The proportion of young people in years 7 to 11 who reported vaping at least once a week is now 5.2 per cent, a fall from 7 per cent in 2023. This is the first time that vaping rates have fallen since 2019, and is now comparable to 2021 when it was 5.5 per cent. This represents a reduction of around 3,200 young people who are vaping regularly since the 2023 survey.

The rate of young people in year 11 who are vaping at least once a week has also fallen to 12.8 per cent, compared to 15.9 per cent in the 2023 survey. In fact vaping has fallen in all measures in the survey, including in each year group, and among both males and females, although the patterns seen in previous years surveys remain – so girls in years 7 to 11 were more likely (6.6 per cent) to report regular vaping than boys (3.7 per cent).

However, these numbers are a drop from the 2023 survey when 8.6 per cent of girls and 5.1 per cent of boys reported being regular users of vapes. In addition, levels of learners reporting vaping increased as they moved through the age ranges in common with previous surveys, so in 2023 0.8 per cent of young people in year 7 said they were vaping at least weekly, whereas this had dropped to 0.6 per cent in 2025.

Alongside the drop in the use of vapes, rates of smoking also continued to drop. While rates of smoking in recent years in secondary school aged pupils have been low and children and young people have been much more likely to report vaping than smoking, 2.7 per cent of learners in 2023 and 3.1 per cent in 2021 said that they were smoking at least weekly.

In the 2025 data this had dropped to 1.8 per cent, representing a substantial fall since 2023, with 1,600 fewer young people smoking regularly in the 2025 data.

Mary-Ann McKibben, Consultant in Public Health for Public Health Wales, said: “The evidence is clear: while vaping is less dangerous than smoking overall, it is not risk-free and no children or young people should be vaping.

“So after a number of years of rising levels of vape use by children and young people, this fall in the levels of vaping and smoking is extremely welcome.

“In analysing the data from the SHRN report, we can identify that overall nicotine use is now falling among children and young people following an ongoing upward trend driven by vaping.

“While there are likely to be a number of factors influencing this change in behaviour, including public health work with schools to address vaping and smoking and wider public awareness of the harms associated with vaping, the introduction of the disposable vapes ban in June 2025 to address youth vaping may have played a part.

“We will continue to monitor young people’s use of nicotine products, using the SHRN survey and other data sources, to try and identify if this is a one-off ‘blip’, or indicative of an ongoing downward trend.

“We are grateful to SHRN for their support with this report, which has enabled Public Health Wales to produce timely evidence on smoking and vaping trends among children and young people in Wales, helping inform future policy and public health action.”