Countries where vaping is banned: the real list

A device sold openly in a British high street can put its owner in front of a foreign court. Lists of countries where vaping is banned circulate widely, copied from one site to the next and rarely traced back to an official text. The regimes behind them differ enormously. Some laws target importation, some target sale, some reach plain possession, including inside an airport transit lounge.

Which countries where vaping is banned, and on what grounds

The World Health Organization counted 42 countries prohibiting e-cigarettes in November 2025, and named for the ASEAN region alone Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Singapore and Thailand.

Six further destinations come back repeatedly in the travel advice issued to British travellers: India, Brazil, Mexico, Turkey, Qatar and Hong Kong. Each entry on that list hides a different legal perimeter.

That perimeter is what matters. A text prohibiting importation does not have the same consequences for a tourist as a text reaching possession, and no list of country names conveys that difference on its own.

South East Asia, where enforcement is documented

This is the region with the heaviest published penalties, and the one where checks on arrival are described in official advice rather than in forum anecdotes.

In Thailand the prohibition covers importation, sale and the supply of related services. Travel advice sets out prison terms for possession and longer ones for importation, alongside substantial fines, and records that foreign nationals have been convicted under those provisions.

Singapore runs a total ban that extends to private homes. Since 1 September 2025 foreign nationals found in possession face graduated sanctions, from a fine to revocation of their pass, followed by removal from the country and a re-entry bar for repeat cases.

The trap in Singapore is transit. Those sanctions reach passengers merely changing planes with a device in cabin baggage, because hand luggage is screened again before boarding the onward flight.

Vietnam voted in November 2024 to prohibit the production, trade, importation, transport and use of e-cigarettes and heated tobacco products. That is the widest wording on the whole list, since it names the user as well as the trade.

Laos targets the carriage of devices in luggage and their use, with particular attention around stations and airports. No figure appears in the official advice, which refers to a heavy fine or imprisonment without further detail.

India and Hong Kong put possession itself in the frame

These two jurisdictions illustrate a shift. The law no longer stops at drying up supply, it reaches the person carrying the device.

In India, possession and use of any electronic nicotine delivery system are prohibited, with a fine and up to one year of imprisonment attached. The provisions apply to passengers in transit and to all baggage, hold luggage included.

Hong Kong offers the most recent example. Import, manufacture, promotion and sale have been prohibited since 30 April 2022, and possession in public places since 30 April 2026, with a fixed penalty rising to a far heavier fine and up to six months of imprisonment above set quantities.

Brazil and Mexico, two very different perimeters

Latin America shows exactly why a list of country names never suffices. Two neighbours can both appear under a ban heading and target completely different acts.

In Brazil, resolution RDC 855 adopted by the health agency Anvisa on 23 April 2024 prohibits the manufacture, importation, marketing, distribution, storage, transport and advertising of every electronic smoking device.

Entry into the territory by a traveller, accompanied baggage included, is explicitly covered by that text, as is use in enclosed collective spaces. Little room is left for a personal device brought in for a fortnight.

Mexico sits at the opposite end. A presidential decree of 19 January 2020, in force the following day, prohibits the importation of e-cigarettes and says nothing about sale, possession or use.

Turkey and Qatar, stated bans with uneven application

Turkey officially prohibits the electronic cigarette, yet travel advice notes that the prohibition does not appear to be applied everywhere. That is an unusual nuance in this kind of document, and it invites caution rather than confidence.

In Qatar, British travel advice states that importing, selling, buying and using these products is illegal. Police may arrest, and the courts may impose a fine, a prison sentence or deportation.

Australia is not one of the countries where vaping is banned

The Australian case is regularly filed under prohibition, wrongly. It follows the opposite model, which is complete medicalisation of the product rather than its removal.

Since 2024 every vaping device, nicotine bearing or not, may only be sold through pharmacies according to the Australian health department. Tobacconists, specialist shops and convenience stores no longer have the right to sell them.

Since 1 October 2024 adults may buy a product capped at 20 mg/ml of nicotine from a pharmacy without a prescription, within a one month supply limit. Flavours are restricted to mint, menthol and tobacco, and packaging follows plain pharmaceutical standards.

The Gulf trap: Qatar and the Emirates are not interchangeable

Here sits the most persistent misconception on the subject. Two Gulf states are constantly confused, while their regimes point in opposite directions.

In the United Arab Emirates, electronic cigarettes containing heated tobacco or flavours are permitted. Only products containing cannabidiol oils are formally prohibited, classed among narcotic or psychotropic substances, with immediate imprisonment attached.

Mixing up Doha and Dubai on that point can therefore be very costly one way, and cause a traveller to leave a perfectly lawful device at home the other way.

What British rules add before departure

Domestic rules shape what is in the case in the first place. Single use disposables have been prohibited from sale in the United Kingdom since June 2025, tanks are capped at 2 ml, nicotine strength at 20 mg/ml and refill bottles at 10 ml, and sale to anyone under 18 is illegal.

None of that travels. A device fully compliant here remains an unlawful import in several jurisdictions above, and a British compliant 2 ml tank is no defence at a Bangkok or Singapore desk.

One technical point closes the loop. The device carries a lithium cell, which aviation safety rules keep in cabin baggage and never in the hold, and that requirement collides head on with the countries screening hand luggage most closely. The domestic side of the question is set out in our piece on vaping in public places.

Three checks before you pack

The applicable rule cannot be guessed from home, and no article replaces official advice. Three quick habits secure a departure.

Read the travel advice page for the destination, including for a simple stopover, since several texts name transit passengers expressly. Then check every connection printed on the ticket rather than the final destination alone.

Finally decide what actually goes in the bag, knowing the cell must stay in the cabin. Where that clashes with local screening, the only remaining option is to leave the device behind, as the rest of our regulation coverage sets out case by case.

Frequently asked questions

Does a stopover without leaving the airport count?

Yes in several jurisdictions, Singapore and India among them, whose official advice names passengers in transit expressly. The international zone of an airport is not a legal vacuum.

Can the authorities search luggage over this?

Customs checks cover the whole of a traveller’s effects. The advice relating to India specifies that the provisions apply to all baggage, including items placed in the hold.

Can hardware be posted to these countries instead?

No. Texts prohibiting importation cover postal shipment as well as personal carriage. The parcel is seized and the sender can be traced.

Does a country list stay valid from one year to the next?

No. Hong Kong widened its scheme in April 2026 and Singapore hardened its sanctions in September 2025. The check has to be repeated before each trip.

What if the destination appears on no list at all?

The absence of a national prohibition says nothing about local rules, airports, transport operators and venues included. The prudent principle is not to vape until a posted rule allows it.

A moving map, to be rechecked before every trip

The subject never reduces to naming the countries where vaping is banned. It comes down to reading which verb the local text uses: importing, selling, holding or using. Those four words carry very different levels of risk, and an informed traveller reads the perimeter before memorising the country name.

The general movement runs towards tightening, with texts now reaching the carrier rather than the trade alone. Hong Kong in 2026 and Singapore in 2025 both moved that way within months of each other, and more jurisdictions are consulting on similar wording.

For a British reader the practical conclusion is short. Check the destination and every stopover on the ticket, accept that the list of countries where vaping is banned changes faster than the articles describing it, and treat a domestic compliant device as no protection whatsoever once the plane lands.

Editorial content for adult readers only. Vaping products usually contain nicotine, a substance that causes addiction. Not for sale to under-18s in the United Kingdom. This article is informational, is not a buying recommendation and does not constitute individual legal advice.