Despite a global decline in smoking rates, the World Health Organization (WHO) has sounded the alarm over a sharp rise in e-cigarette use, warning that vaping is fuelling a “new wave of nicotine addiction,” particularly among young people.
According to the WHO’s latest global tobacco trends report, more than 100 million people now use e-cigarettes, including around 15 million children aged 13 to 15. The UN health agency says this surge threatens to undermine decades of progress in the fight against smoking.
While traditional tobacco use has fallen from 1.38 billion users in 2000 to 1.2 billion in 2024, one in five adults worldwide still use tobacco products, causing millions of preventable deaths each year. “Millions of people are stopping, or not taking up, tobacco use thanks to tobacco control efforts by countries around the world,” said WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. “But the tobacco industry is fighting back with new nicotine products, aggressively targeting young people. Governments must act faster and stronger in implementing proven tobacco control policies.”
For the first time, the WHO has released global figures for e-cigarette use, finding that children are nine times more likely than adults to vape in countries where data is available. “E-cigarettes are fuelling a new wave of nicotine addiction,” warned Etienne Krug, WHO’s Director of Health Determinants, Promotion and Prevention. “They are marketed as harm reduction, but in reality, are hooking kids on nicotine earlier and risk reversing decades of progress.”
The report also highlights a gender divide in tobacco use. Women have achieved the global reduction target five years early, with smoking rates falling from 11 percent in 2010 to 6.6 percent in 2024. The number of female tobacco users dropped from 277 million to 206 million during that period. In contrast, progress among men has been slower—male prevalence fell from 41.4 percent to 32.5 percent, and the global reduction target may not be met until 2031.
Regionally, Europe remains the heaviest-smoking continent, with 24.1 percent of adults using tobacco. European women record the highest smoking rates globally at 17.4 percent. The Western Pacific region follows closely with 22.9 percent, while Africa has the lowest prevalence at 9.5 percent. Southeast Asia, however, has seen the sharpest decline, with male smoking rates dropping from 70 percent in 2000 to 37 percent in 2024.
Health experts warn that vaping’s rapid rise poses new dangers. “We now know enough to conclude e-cigarettes are not harmless,” said Professor Maja-Lisa Løchen, a cardiologist at the University Hospital of North Norway. Speaking to Euronews Health, she noted that about 22 percent of 15- and 16-year-olds in Europe now vape regularly—up from 14 percent just five years ago.
“Vaping often acts as a gateway to smoking real cigarettes,” Løchen said, adding that the tobacco industry is using sweet flavours and flashy designs to target children. Recent studies, including one published in the New England Journal of Medicine, suggest that vaping can increase the risk of stroke by nearly a third.
