As Brits set new year’s resolutions to go on diets or give up smoking a report has suggested that giving up traditional cigarettes for safer e-cigarettes such as vaping could boost the British economy by billions.
A major report – Economic impact assessment of the vaping industry – by the Centre for Economics and Business Research (Cebr) has suggested switching from cigarettes to vaping or e-cigarettes would cut NHS costs as well as boost the economy more widely.
It comes as million of Brits try to give up smoking traditional cigarettes as part of their new year’s resolution.
But it also feeds into a worldwide debate over whether e-cigarettes including vaping and heated tobacco are a safer form of smoking.
The Cebr report claimed: “The total saving in healthcare costs associated with smokers switching to using vaping products is estimated to be £322 million in 2019. The potential healthcare saving if 50 percent of all smokers switched to vaping is £698 million [a year].”
This is based on e-cigarettes carrying only five percent of the harm according to the UK government which is backing it as a central strategy for “Smokefree Britain” with an aim of traditional cigrettes being amost a thing of the past by 2030.
The public health campaign groun Action on smoking and Health (ASH) has backed the use of e-cigarette alternatives as a means of getting people to quit.
It noted: “Vaping an e-cigarette is much less harmful than smoking a tobacco cigarette because tobacco smoke is not inhaled. Most of the toxins in tobacco smoke are not found in the vapour of e-cigarettes and those that are present are at much lower levels – mostly below 1 percent.”
However, the UK Government is currently standing against the World Health Organisation (WHO) and most other countries in promoting vaping and e-cigarettes as an alternative to traditional cigarettes.
According to the Cebr report, the vaping industry is also worth billions to the British economy and has created thousands of jobs.
It estimated that the turnover of the industry was £2.8 billion in 2021 with gross value added (GVA) to the economy of £939 million even before the impact on reducing costs to the NHS caused by smoking related diseases.
The industry also supported 17,710 jobs with gross wages of £325 million.
It means that with the combined cost reduction to the NHS and boost to the economy vaping could be worth almost £5 billion to the UK giving a boost to Chancellor Jeremy Hunt’s finances
The Cebr quoted an Opinium survey on the impact of switching to vaping from traditional cigarettes.
It said: “Of the smokers who switched to vaping, 80 percent at least smoked less whilst 50 percent quit smoking entirely, 76 percent of those aged 55+ began vaping “to quit smoking” and because it is a ‘healthier way to use nicotine’.
“This figure is 35 percent for those aged 18 – 24. The most popular spending avenue to purchase vaping products was physical vape shops at 39 percent of spending in 2017. This remains the case in 2021 at 33 percent.”
According to the report the yearly healthcare cost of a smoker to the taxpayer is £395 and negative prodcutivity cost £2,117.
This reduces to £192 health cost and £1,304 productivity cost for ex-smokers.
David Maddox – Express – 2023-01-06.
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