VARES and Pro-Consulting unveil the first comprehensive study of the vape market in Ukraine: average age — 30, 82% use reusable devices

The All-Ukrainian Association of the Electronic Cigarette Market (VARES), together with the analytics firm Pro-Consulting, presented the results of the first comprehensive study of the electronic cigarette market in Ukraine. The presentation took place in the format of a press conference, the materials of which were published by RBC-Ukraine. The study covers key aspects of consumer behavior: the demographic profile of users, the structure of the product segment, purchase channels, and price sensitivity. According to VARES head Andriy Solomin, the data obtained is essential for building state regulatory policy for the industry based on real market indicators rather than stereotypical assumptions.

Demographics and smoking history: debunking the myth of “youth” vaping

One of the most unexpected findings of the study was the clarification of the age profile of electronic cigarette consumers. If vapes had previously been associated primarily with young people aged 18–22, the actual average age of a user is 30. Moreover, the data did not confirm the widespread claim that for most consumers a vape is their first nicotine product. According to the survey results, 70% of respondents already had experience smoking traditional tobacco products before they started using electronic cigarettes. This indicates that electronic cigarettes in Ukraine are used not primarily as a “gateway” into the world of tobacco products, but as an alternative that people with an already established smoking habit switch to.

Market structure: reusable devices dominate over disposables

The study also refuted the entrenched view that disposable devices dominate the Ukrainian electronic cigarette market. According to Pro-Consulting data, only 18% of consumers use disposable electronic cigarettes. At the same time, 82% use reusable devices, confirming the undisputed dominance of this segment. From an economic standpoint, this distribution is critically important: it is reusable electronic cigarettes that generate the greatest potential for VAT revenue, since they require regular purchases of liquids and consumables. However, as the study’s authors emphasize, this segment currently has no separate state registration, and the state does not have complete data on the volume of its sales. This makes it impossible to accurately assess either the real scale of the segment or its tax potential.

Sales channels: offline retail remains the main one

An analysis of the channels through which liquids for electronic cigarettes are purchased revealed a sustained dominance of physical retail. 70% of consumers buy liquid in physical stores. Marketplaces account for only 10% of purchases, websites for 9%, Telegram for 8%, and Instagram for 3%. The data obtained indicate an established, large-scale offline market with high physical availability of products. The study’s authors conclude that state policy needs to focus on the legalization, registration, and effective control of precisely the physical retail network as the main sales channel. Consumer price sensitivity also proved to be high: 73% of respondents stated that if the price of products rises, they would look for cheaper offers, reduce consumption, or switch to other products. Only 27% are ready to pay more without changing their behavior. This means that any price pressure from the regulator will create additional incentives to move to illegal sellers, who, by estimates, already dominate the market today, leading to further shadowing and a shortfall of tax revenue in the budget.

Tax revenue and the economic potential of legalization

VARES head Andriy Solomin provided specific data on the tax contributions of the association’s members. According to him, in 2025 and the first half of 2026, the companies that are VARES members paid 176.62 million UAH in taxes and other mandatory payments. For comparison, excise revenue from liquids for electronic cigarettes across the entire market for the same period amounted to 176.96 million UAH. Thus, as Solomin emphasizes, in a market where, according to other studies, the illegal sector prevails, official budget revenue is in fact provided by the legal segment. Solomin also stated that, according to the association’s calculations, de-shadowing and regulating the circulation of nicotine could provide the budget with 4 billion UAH within the first year and significantly reduce the share of the illegal market. He stressed that regulation should be based on real data about the market and consumer behavior, which was the motivation for commissioning the Pro-Consulting study.

Contradictory data

When interpreting the results, it must be borne in mind that the Pro-Consulting study was commissioned by the industry association VARES, which creates a potential conflict of interest: the study’s conclusions largely align with the lobbying interests of the association’s members in favor of legalization and expansion of the legal segment. At the same time, a separate study conducted by Kantar and published in early 2026 records that 93.6% of electronic cigarettes in Ukraine are sold illegally. These data do not contradict Pro-Consulting’s conclusions about the dominance of offline channels and price sensitivity, but they significantly shift the emphasis: if the overwhelming majority of sales occur in the shadow, then the 176.62 million UAH in taxes paid by VARES members reflect only a small fraction of the market’s real turnover. In addition, the VARES study does not disclose the sampling methodology, sample size, or margin of error, which limits the possibility of independent verification of individual figures. The difference in focus between the two studies — the consumer’s behavioral profile (Pro-Consulting) versus the share of legal/illegal turnover (Kantar) — makes them mutually complementary but not identical, and their results should not be blended into a single picture without caveats when cited in public discourse.

Flavor as a key factor and the risks of prohibitive regulation

A separate block of the study is devoted to the factors in choosing liquids. Flavor is the main criterion for 85% of consumers, quality for 64%. Modeling a scenario of banning fruit and sweet flavors showed that most consumers would not give up electronic cigarettes: 43% of respondents stated that they would look for alternative purchase channels, indicating a high risk of demand shifting to the illegal sector in the event of flavor restrictions. The totality of this data, according to VARES, forms the argument in favor of “smart” regulation based on registration and control, rather than prohibitive measures that could only deepen the shadow nature of the market.