At a glance
In 2022:
- 813,000 (19.7%) Queensland adults had ever used an e-cigarette.
- 205,000 (5.0%) Queensland adults currently vape.
In 2022–2023, 131,000 (35.6%) of Queensland high school students age 12 to 17 years had ever used an e-cigarette.
From 2018 to 2022, the prevalence of Queensland adults 18 to 29 years who had ever vaped nearly doubled with a similar increase seen in 12 to 17 year old school students from 2017 to 2022–2023.
Introduction
Electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) heat liquid, which usually contains nicotine, into a fine vapour to inhale into the lungs. E-cigarette use, or vaping, continues to rise in popularity, particularly among younger people, while the evidence of potential harms continues to mount.
A recent Australian review concluded there was strong evidence that non-smokers who vape are three times more likely to go on to smoke combustible tobacco cigarettes. There was limited evidence that vaping is effective for smoking cessation, and when used for this purpose it led to longer nicotine exposure than other cessation methods. It may also be associated with relapse in ex-smokers. Risks include lung damage, injuries and burns, acute nicotine toxicity, poisoning, and environmental waste. Use has been associated with cardiovascular health markers such as blood pressure and heart rate, lung function, and adolescent brain development. Newer products that contain high concentration nicotine salt and are small and easily concealed, are increasing in popularity, and are a particular concern.1
Australian governments have taken an evidence-based and precautionary approach to regulating e-cigarettes based on the risks they pose to tobacco control and population health in terms of gateway to smoking initiation, questions over effectiveness for cessation, increasing youth uptake, and dual use with conventional tobacco products.2,3
Latest results
Adults
In 2022, 19.7% of Queensland adults had tried an e-cigarette in their lifetime with higher use in younger age groups. Among 18 to 29 year olds, the prevalence of ever use was 45.3% followed by 24.1% among 30 to 44 year olds. Adult males were more likely to have ever vaped than females.
Figure 1: Ever vaped by age and sex, Queensland adults, 2022
In 2022, 5.0% Queensland adults were currently vaping, defined as any regular or intermittent use of e-cigarettes in the previous 12 months. This figure includes 1.9% who vaped daily. Adults who currently vaped were more likely to be:
- male
- younger.
Vaping was associated with tobacco smoking with 12.2% of current daily smokers also using e-cigarettes (52,000 adults). Of adults who had never smoked, 41,000 (1.8% of never smokers) currently used e-cigarettes.
Figure 2: Current vaping by age, sex and tobacco use, Queensland adults, 2022
Children and young people
In 2022–2023, in Queensland high school students:
- 64.4% had never tried an e-cigarette
- 18.6% had only had a few puffs of an e-cigarette
- 9.4% had smoked less than 100 e-cigarettes
- 7.5% had smoked more than 100 e-cigarettes in their lifetime.
In total, 35.6% of Queensland high school students had ever vaped with prevalence higher in older students (Figure 3).
In 2022–2023, 30.0% of Queensland students had vaped in the previous 12 months, while 13.2% of Queensland students had vaped in the previous seven days. The prevalence of vaping in the previous 12 months was similar by sex and age. The prevalence of vaping in the previous seven days was similar by sex, but higher for older Queensland students.4
Figure 3: Queensland school students who ever vaped, 2022–2023
Trends
Figure 4 shows adult ever and current vaping prevalence for the initial and most recent year of data by sex and age. The prevalence of Queensland adults who had ever vaped increased in all age groups, with the largest increase (92.8% higher in 2022) in young adults 18 to 29 years. The increase in vaping prevalence over this period were similar for males and females.
Among Queensland high school students 12 to 17 years, there was a more than 2-fold increase from 2017 to 2022–2023 in the prevalence who had ever vaped (from 15.5% to 35.6%).
Figure 4: Prevalence changes for Queensland adults ever and currently vaping
Parents views of vaping
In 2022, 2,553 parents completed a telephone survey on their views about vaping and how they have engaged with their children.
Less than half of parents interviewed (44.4%) had spoken to their child about vaping. There was a large age effect, with 69.5% of parents of older children (12 to 17 years) reporting a vaping discussion with their child compared to 23.6% of parents of younger children (5 to 11 years).
When asked why they talked to their child about vaping, the two most common responses were:
- “To teach my child about the risk of using vapes”
- “Seeing someone vaping”.
When parents were asked why they had not discussed vaping with their child, the two most common responses were:
- “No one smokes or vapes in our household”
- “My child is too young”.
About one-third of parents reported that their child’s high school had provided information about vaping. Parents living in urban areas were much more likely than parents living in more rural areas to report their child’s high school had provided information about vaping (42.4% for major cities, 23.0% for inner regional areas and 16.3% for outer regional areas). Meanwhile, more than 90% of parents agreed (44.1%) or strongly agreed (46.6%) that high schools should provide more information about e-cigarettes to their students.
Although there are legal limitations on advertising e-cigarettes, about 1-in-5 parents (20.3%) had seen advertisements for e-cigarettes and vaping products in physical shops, most commonly tobacconists and vaping stores. Slightly fewer parents (16.9%) had seen e-cigarette advertisements online, most commonly on social media and online marketplace websites.
National comparisons
In 2022–2023, the current vaping prevalence for Queensland adults was similar to national results (6.7% compared to 6.8%). State and territory results were similar, with Queensland ranked 3rd of the Australian jurisdictions.5
Additional information
Data and statistics
Visit the Tobacco in Australia website E-cigarettes and other alternative nicotine products for more information about e-cigarette use.
Summary QPHS results for Hospital and Health Services and other regions can be found within this report at Hospital and Health Services and other regions and more detailed and historical results can be accessed from Queensland Preventive health surveys.
Strategies and information
Visit the
- National Health and Medical Research Council for the latest advice from the 2022 CEO statement on electronic cigarettes.
- Queensland Health Smoking laws in Queensland.
Section technical notes
Counts of people by modifiable risk factors are estimated by applying the indicator prevalence to the relevant estimated resident population (ERP). More information about ERP is available from the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
- National, state and territory population.
- Data on government and non-government students, staff and schools.
Where presented, ratios were calculated using higher precision estimates than in text. Ratios calculated using estimates in text may differ.
Prevalence statistics reported for a time period, such as the previous seven days, should be interpreted as a proportion of the entire population, unless otherwise stated. These should be interpreted independently and not summed.
Data for this section were sourced from:
- the Queensland preventive health survey (QPHS) (See Preventive health surveys for further information).
- the Australian Secondary School Alcohol and Drugs Survey (ASSAD) (See Australian secondary school students alcohol and drug survey for further information). A smaller sample size (10,314 students nationally) was achieved in 2022–2023 than in past years.
- the National Drug Strategy Household Survey 2022–2023 (NDSHS) (See National Drug Strategy Household Survey 2022–2023 for further information).
E-cigarette use reported from other surveys may differ due to underlying methods.