Smokers in S'pore cutting down on cigarettes, but vaping on the rise: Survey

Four trade groups spread anti-vaping message at their premises

- Zaihan Mohamed Yusof

Smokers in Singapore have been cutting down on the number of cigarettes they light up each week, a survey has found, but this is happening amid an uptick in the use of products like e-cigarettes and vaporisers.

The survey by Milieu Insight produced a mixed bag of results.

The average number of cigarettes smoked per week fell from 72 sticks in the third quarter of 2021 to 56 in the fourth quarter of 2023.

Meanwhile, the usage of alternative products like e-cigarettes and vaporisers increased over the same period from 3.9 per cent to 5.2 per cent of the population.

"Since Q2 2022, the number of sticks smoked per week had declined gradually.

"This can also be attributed to the increase in proportion of occasional smokers as compared to regular smokers over this period," said the market research company, which shared the results on March 26.

Milieu's survey, conducted from Dec 16 to Dec 29, 2023, found that the proportion of occasional smokers had increased by 1.2 percentage points to 3.2 per cent, from the third quarter of 2021 to the last quarter of 2023. There was also an increase in the number of former smokers over the same period.