WHO Warns: Youth Vaping Surges as Global E-Cigarette Use Tops 100 Million
The World Health Organization (WHO) has released its first global estimate on e-cigarette use, revealing a concerning rise in vaping worldwide. The report shows that more than 100 million people now vape, including at least 15 million teenagers aged 13 to 15. In countries where data is available, young people are nine times more likely to vape than adults, sparking fears of a new generation addicted to nicotine.
While traditional smoking continues to decline globally from 1.38 billion users in 2000 to 1.2 billion in 2024 the surge in e-cigarette use threatens to undermine decades of progress in tobacco control. As stricter laws and awareness campaigns reduce cigarette consumption, tobacco companies have increasingly turned to alternative products like vapes to maintain profits. These products are often promoted as harm-reduction tools meant to help adult smokers quit.
However, WHO officials warn that many of these products are being marketed in ways that appeal to young people, using flavors, bright packaging, and influencer-driven advertising. Etienne Krug, Director of WHO’s Department for Health Promotion and Prevention, described this as “a new wave of nicotine addiction,” saying that while e-cigarettes are marketed as harm reduction, they are actually hooking children on nicotine earlier and risk reversing years of progress.
Some studies suggest that e-cigarettes can help adult smokers quit. A 2024 Cochrane review found that smokers using nicotine e-cigarettes were more likely to quit than those using nicotine patches or gum. Yet researchers caution that the long-term health effects of vaping are still unclear, and more evidence is needed to fully understand the risks. Health experts agree that while vaping may be less harmful than smoking traditional cigarettes, it is not risk-free especially for adolescents and non-smokers.
The WHO report also highlights regional differences in tobacco trends. In Southeast Asia, male tobacco use has nearly halved, falling from 70% in 2000 to 37% in 2024, accounting for more than half of the global decline. In contrast, Europe now has the highest tobacco use worldwide at 24.1%, with women in the region leading globally in tobacco use at 17.4%. Despite the overall decline, nearly one in five adults around the world still use tobacco products.
WHO is calling on governments to strengthen enforcement of tobacco control policies and introduce tighter regulations on new nicotine products. These include restricting flavored e-cigarettes that attract young users, enforcing age limits and advertising bans, increasing taxes on vaping products, and educating the public about nicotine addiction and health risks.
The challenge for policymakers is to strike a balance allowing adult smokers to use e-cigarettes as a possible quitting aid while preventing youth uptake and addiction. Vaping is no longer a niche trend but a global health issue. With more than 100 million users worldwide and growing numbers of teenagers becoming dependent on nicotine, WHO warns that without decisive action, vaping could erode the hard-won gains made in reducing tobacco use over the past two decades.