More than two million people in Britain now use electronic cigarettes, although 59 per cent also smoke regular cigarettes alongside, new figures suggest.
Estimates from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) revealed there are 2.2 million current e-cigarette users - 4 per cent of the population.
Just over half (53 per cent) of e-cigarette users said they used vaping as an aid to quitting regular smoking.
The data also suggests there are 3.9 million people who are former users of e-cigarettes and a further 2.6 million people said they had tried an e-cigarette but never went on to use it.
Just over one in five (22 per cent) of current users said their main reason for vaping is because they feel e-cigarettes are less harmful than cigarettes.
One in 10 (9 per cent) said their main reason was because they could use e-cigarettes indoors.
A relatively small number (56,000) of current e-cigarette users have never previously smoked, the data showed.
Of the former e-cigarette users, around three-quarters said they were currently smoking cigarettes. Some 59 per cent of the current users said they also smoked cigarettes (1.3 million).
When it comes to regular cigarette smoking, the numbers who smoke continues to fall.
In 2014, 19 per cent of adults smoked, with 20 per cent of men smoking - the lowest on record.
Some 17 per cent of women smoked, slightly up on the previous year.
Read More
MORE ABOUT