Vape pod statistics sit within a broader U.S. e-cigarette market that includes disposable devices, prefilled cartridges, refillable pods, tanks, and mod systems. The latest figures in this dataset show substantial changes in product mix: disposable devices represented 58.1% of sales in June 2024, while prefilled cartridges or pod-based products represented 41.8%.
Contents
- Youth e-cigarette use
- How often young people used e-cigarettes
- Pods, disposables, and other device formats
- Brands reported by youth users
- Flavors and pod preferences
- U.S. sales trends and market size
Youth e-cigarette use
The CDC 2023 National Youth Tobacco Survey (NYTS) reported current e-cigarette use among 7.7% of U.S. middle and high school students in 2023. That represented about 2.13 million students. The same survey reported current use among 10.0% of high school students, or about 1.56 million, and among 4.6% of middle school students, or about 550,000.
The available annual estimates show a lower reported prevalence in 2023 than in the two preceding survey years. In 2022, 9.4% of U.S. middle and high school students, or about 2.55 million students, reported current e-cigarette use. In 2021, the corresponding figure was 7.6%, or about 2.06 million students. These figures describe different survey years and should not be treated as a continuous monthly series.
| Survey year | Current use among middle and high school students | Estimated number of students |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 7.6% | About 2.06 million |
| 2022 | 9.4% | About 2.55 million |
| 2023 | 7.7% | About 2.13 million |
Source: CDC 2021 NYTS, CDC 2022 NYTS, and CDC 2023 NYTS.
These are youth-use estimates, not measures of adult vaping or of all people using pod products. They also do not establish why prevalence changed between survey years. For air-quality and smoke-free-living discussions, the figures are useful as an indicator of how widely e-cigarette exposure and use were reported among U.S. students during each measurement year.
How often young people used e-cigarettes
The CDC 2023 NYTS also described use frequency among current youth e-cigarette users. The largest group, 46.1%, reported use on 1–5 days during the previous 30 days. Another 19.1% reported use on 6–19 days, while 34.7% reported use on 20–30 days. Separately, 25.2% reported daily use.
The categories describe the number of days used in the prior 30 days; daily use is a separate reported measure and should not be added to the three frequency groups. Together, the frequency figures show that current use included both occasional and near-daily patterns.
The CDC 2023 NYTS found that 60.7% of current youth e-cigarette users most often used disposable devices. Prefilled or refillable pods or cartridges were the most-often-used format for 16.1%, and tanks or mod systems for 5.9%. The remaining users were not represented by those three listed format percentages in the supplied figures.
The pattern was different in the earlier survey years. The CDC 2022 NYTS reported disposable devices as the most-often-used format for 55.3% of current youth users, prefilled or refillable pods or cartridges for 25.2%, and tanks or mod systems for 6.7%. In 2021, the corresponding figures were 53.7% for disposables, 28.7% for prefilled or refillable pods or cartridges, and 9.0% for tanks or mod systems, according to the CDC 2021 NYTS.
Pods, disposables, and other device formats
The youth survey figures describe what users most often used. Retail sales figures describe units sold or sales dollars, so the two types of measurement should be kept separate.
CDC MMWR sales data for January 2020 through December 2022 showed total U.S. e-cigarette unit sales increasing 46.6%, from 15.5 million to 22.7 million units per 4-week period. The same sales series reported a 67.2% increase from January 2020 to May 2022, when sales reached 25.9 million units per period, followed by a 12.3% decrease from May to December 2022, ending at 22.7 million units per period.
Within that period, prefilled cartridges represented 75.2% of total e-cigarette unit sales in January 2020 and 48.0% in December 2022. Disposable e-cigarettes represented 24.7% in January 2020 and 51.8% in December 2022. Thus, the reported sales mix shifted toward disposables over the measured period, while prefilled cartridge share declined.
The CDC E-Cigarettes page reported that in June 2024, 58.1% of all e-cigarette sales were disposable e-cigarettes and 41.8% were prefilled cartridges or pod-based e-cigarettes. Between February 2020 and June 2024, the disposable share increased from 26.0% to 58.1%. In June 2024, e-cigarette dollar sales totaled $488.9 million.
Earlier CDC MMWR sales data also recorded rapid changes in other periods. From September 2014 to May 2020, total unit sales rose 122.2%, from 7.7 million to 17.1 million units per 4-week interval. From November 2016 to August 2019, they rose 294.3%, from 5.6 million to 22.0 million units per period. From August 2019 to February 2020, sales fell 32.7%, from 22.0 million to 14.8 million units per period.
By May 2020, prefilled cartridges accounted for 80.2% of total e-cigarette sales and disposable products for 19.8%, according to the CDC MMWR 2014–2020 sales report. Those figures cover a different period and therefore should not be directly substituted for the June 2024 sales mix.
Brands reported by youth users
The CDC 2023 NYTS measured brands used by current youth e-cigarette users. Elf Bar was reported by 56.7%, Esco Bars by 21.6%, Vuse by 20.7%, JUUL by 16.5%, Mr. Fog by 13.6%, Breeze by 11.6%, SMOK by 11.3%, Fume by 9.0%, Kangvape by 8.8%, NJOY by 7.5%, blu by 6.0%, HQD by 5.5%, Logic by 3.9%, Suorin by 3.8%, and Lost Mary by 2.6%. Another 17.3% reported some other brand not listed.
These percentages are brand-use reports among current youth users, not market-share estimates. A respondent could report brand use in a way that does not represent exclusive use, so the percentages should not be summed.
The brand mix differed in earlier NYTS results. In 2022, Puff Bar was reported by 29.7% of current youth e-cigarette users, Vuse by 23.6%, JUUL by 22.0%, SMOK by 13.5%, and NJOY by 8.3%, according to the CDC 2022 NYTS. In 2021, Puff Bar was the usual brand for 26.8%, Vuse for 10.5%, SMOK for 8.6%, and JUUL for 6.8%, according to the CDC 2021 NYTS.
Retail rankings also use a different measure. The CDC E-Cigarettes page listed the 10 top-selling brands by dollar sales from April through June 2024 as Vuse, JUUL, Geek Bar Pulse, Breeze Smoke, NJOY, RAZ, HQD, Loon Maxx, Breeze Prime, and Juicy Bar. The CDC MMWR 2020–2022 sales report listed JUUL, Vuse, NJOY, My Blu, and Puff among the top five brands during the 4-week period ending January 26, 2020. During the 4-week period ending December 25, 2022, its top five were Vuse, JUUL, Elf Bar, NJOY, and Breeze Smoke.
Flavors and pod preferences
Flavor reporting was high among youth e-cigarette users. The CDC 2022 NYTS figures supplied here report flavored use for 84.9% of current youth e-cigarette users. Among flavored users, 69.1% reported fruit flavors, 38.3% candy, desserts, or other sweets, 29.4% mint, 26.6% menthol, 7.6% alcoholic drink flavors, 4.3% chocolate, 2.9% clove or spice, and 11.7% another flavor not listed.
The supplied source label identifies these flavor figures as CDC 2022 NYTS results, even where the surrounding statistic list describes them in a 2023 context. They should therefore be read as 2022 NYTS measurements rather than independently verified 2023 estimates.
The CDC 2021 NYTS reported flavored use for 84.7% of current youth e-cigarette users. Its flavor percentages were 71.6% fruit, 34.1% candy or desserts, 30.2% mint, and 28.8% menthol. Among current flavored pod or cartridge users in 2021, fruit was reported by 57.9%, menthol by 46.3%, mint by 30.7%, and candy or desserts by 28.2%.
Retail flavor shares varied by device category. CDC MMWR data for January 2020 reported prefilled cartridge sales as 34.2% tobacco-flavored, 40.0% menthol-flavored, 10.5% mint-flavored, and 15.3% other flavors. In December 2022, prefilled cartridge sales were 37.3% tobacco-flavored and 62.2% menthol-flavored in the supplied figures.
For disposable products, January 2020 sales were 10.5% tobacco-flavored, 9.0% menthol-flavored, 8.9% mint-flavored, and 71.4% other flavors. By December 2022, disposable sales were 4.3% tobacco-flavored, 3.6% menthol-flavored, 11.1% mint-flavored, and 79.6% other flavors.
The CDC E-Cigarettes page reported that 80.6% of e-cigarette sales in June 2024 were for flavors other than tobacco. Earlier CDC MMWR 2014–2020 data reported that, by May 2020, menthol products accounted for 51.6% of total e-cigarette sales, tobacco-flavored products for 33.1%, mint products for 2.3%, and all other flavored products for 12.8%. Among prefilled cartridge sales in May 2020, menthol accounted for 61.8%, tobacco-flavored products for 37.1%, mint for 0.3%, and all other flavors for 0.8%.
U.S. sales trends and market size
The number of products and brands expanded alongside changing sales shares. CDC MMWR 2020–2022 sales data reported 184 e-cigarette brands during the 4-week period ending January 26, 2020, compared with 269 during the 4-week period ending December 25, 2022. The CDC E-Cigarettes page reported nearly 6,300 different e-cigarette products available for purchase in the United States as of June 2024.
That product count is a point-in-time availability figure, while the brand count describes brands observed in specific 4-week sales periods. They are different measures and should not be combined into a single market-size estimate.
The latest supplied sales figures place disposable products at 58.1% of June 2024 e-cigarette sales, pod-based or prefilled products at 41.8%, other-than-tobacco flavors at 80.6%, and total dollar sales at $488.9 million. Together, these figures describe a market in which disposable formats and non-tobacco flavors were prominent during that measurement month, while the earlier NYTS results show how youth-reported use patterns and brand exposure varied across 2021, 2022, and 2023.