If vapes were previously associated primarily with young people aged 18–22, the study showed that the actual average age of consumers is 30.

The data also did not support the claim that vaping is the first nicotine product for most users. Before starting to use electronic cigarettes, 70% of respondents had already smoked traditional cigarettes.

This indicates that electronic cigarettes are predominantly used not as an entry point into tobacco consumption, but as a product that consumers switch to after having experience with traditional tobacco products.

### Not Just Disposable Vapes

The study also challenged the widespread perception that disposable electronic cigarettes dominate the market.

Only 18% of consumers use disposable devices. By contrast, 82% use reusable electronic cigarettes, confirming the dominance of this segment in the Ukrainian market.

At the same time, this segment is not subject to separate government tracking, and the state does not have comprehensive data on its sales volumes. As a result, it is difficult to accurately assess both the actual size of the segment and its potential tax contribution.

### Where Consumers Most Often Buy Vape Liquids

The study found that 70% of consumers purchase vape liquids in physical retail stores. Marketplaces account for only 10%, websites for 9%, Telegram for 8%, and Instagram for 3%.

The findings point to a well-established and sizeable offline market with a high level of physical product availability. This underscores the need for government policy to focus on bringing the market into the legal economy, improving record-keeping, and ensuring effective oversight of physical retail networks as the primary distribution channel.

### How Consumers Will Respond to Higher Prices

A total of 73% of consumers would look for cheaper offers, reduce consumption, or switch to other products. Only 27% are prepared to pay more without changing their behaviour.

Higher consumer prices would create additional incentives to shift towards illegal sellers, who already dominate the market today.

The result would be further expansion of the shadow market, a decline in the share of the legal sector and, consequently, lower-than-expected tax revenues for the state budget.

### What Matters More: Flavour or Quality?

Flavour is the main factor when choosing vape liquid for 85% of consumers, while 64% identified quality as an important factor. If fruit and sweet flavours were removed from the market, most consumers would not stop using electronic cigarettes: 43% would look for alternative purchasing channels, indicating a high risk of further demand shifting towards the illegal sector.

According to Andrii Solomin, Head of VARES, these findings should be taken into account in the further regulation of the industry.

“In 2025 and the first half of 2026, VARES member companies paid UAH 176.62 million in taxes and other mandatory payments. By comparison, excise tax revenues from liquids for electronic cigarettes across the entire market amounted to UAH 176.96 million over the same period. In a market where more than 93% operates in the shadow economy, what is effectively a small legal segment is currently generating the market’s official budget revenues,” he stressed.

The Head of VARES added that, in order to expand this segment, regulation must be based on real data about the market and consumer behaviour.

“This is precisely why we commissioned the Pro-Consulting study. According to our estimates, bringing the market out of the shadows and properly regulating nicotine circulation could generate UAH 4 billion for the state budget within the first year alone and significantly reduce the share of the illegal market,” Solomin said.