E-cigarettes drive new wave of addiction
WHO warns vaping surge risks reversing tobacco gains
Geneva: While global tobacco use is declining, nicotine addiction is evolving. The World Health Organization’s (WHO) latest Global Report on Trends in Prevalence of Tobacco Use 2000–2024 and Projections 2025–2030, released today, states that while traditional cigarette smoking is declining, nicotine addiction is evolving with new products, particularly e-cigarettes, creating fresh public health challenges.
WHO has called for sustained political will, stricter regulation, and intensified awareness campaigns to ensure that the next generation is not caught in a new cycle of addiction. Besides, roughly one in five adults still consumes tobacco, resulting in millions of preventable deaths annually, even as the total number of tobacco users worldwide has declined from 1.38 billion in 2000 to 1.2 billion in 2024, the report showed.
The report warns that despite decades of progress, the tobacco epidemic remains a major public health challenge. Since 2010, the number of global tobacco users has fallen by 120 million, a 27 per cent reduction, but the decline has not been uniform across gender or regions. The pace of reduction among men is slower, with over 80% of current tobacco users being male, and the prevalence among men dropping from 41.4% in 2010 to 32.5% in 2024. At this rate, men are unlikely to meet the WHO global reduction target of 30% before 2031. Women, however, have led the way in quitting tobacco, achieving the 30% reduction target five years early, in 2020. Female prevalence fell from 11% in 2010 to 6.6% in 2024, reducing the number of women using tobacco from 277 million to 206 million.
The report highlights the emergence of new nicotine products, particularly e-cigarettes, as a critical concern. WHO estimates that over 100 million people globally are vaping, including 86 million adults and 15 million adolescents aged 13–15, with children being nine times more likely than adults to use e-cigarettes. “E-cigarettes are fuelling a new wave of nicotine addiction,” said Etienne Krug, WHO Director of Health Determinants, Promotion and Prevention. “They are marketed as harm reduction but, in reality, are hooking kids on nicotine earlier and risk undermining decades of progress.” The tobacco industry continues to introduce products such as heated tobacco, nicotine pouches, and new vaping technologies, aiming to maintain addiction while targeting young people.
Regionally, progress in reducing tobacco use has been uneven. South-East Asia, once the epicentre of tobacco consumption, has seen male prevalence nearly halve—from 70% in 2000 to 37% in 2024—accounting for over half of the global reduction. Africa shows the lowest prevalence at 9.5%, though population growth has increased the absolute number of users. The Americas achieved a 36% relative reduction, bringing prevalence to 14%, while Europe now has the world’s highest prevalence, with 24.1% of adults using tobacco and European women registering the highest female prevalence globally at 17.4%. In the Eastern Mediterranean, prevalence stands at 18% with some countries witnessing rising usage, and the Western Pacific shows slow progress, declining only to 22.9% from 25.8% in 2010, with men here having the highest prevalence worldwide at 43.3% and women the lowest at 2.5%.
WHO emphasised the urgent need for governments to strengthen tobacco control through comprehensive policies. Measures include fully enforcing the MPOWER package and the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), closing regulatory loopholes that allow youth targeting, controlling new nicotine products like e-cigarettes, raising taxes, banning advertising, and expanding cessation services. “Nearly 20% of adults still use tobacco and nicotine products. We cannot let up now,” said Dr Jeremy Farrar, WHO Assistant Director-General for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention and Care. “The world has made gains, but stronger, faster action is the only way to beat the tobacco epidemic.”
The findings are based on 2,034 national surveys covering 97% of the global population and underpin reporting on Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) Target 3.a and the WHO NCD Global Action Plan, which set a 30% reduction target by 2025. Despite progress, the world remains short by about 50 million users, highlighting the need for accelerated action.
– global bihari bureau
