15 Million Teens Use Electric Cigarettes, WHO: Makes Nikotin Addiction Early

JAKARTA - At least 15 million people aged 13 to 15 are using e-cigarettes globally, with the average teenager nine times more likely to use the vape than adults in data-owned countries, according to the World Health Organization (WHO) on Monday.

In its first global estimate of the use of e-cigarettes, WHO says more than 100 million people worldwide are now using vapes, including at least 86 million adults, mostly in high-income countries.

These figures emerged in line with the continued decline in global tobacco use, with the number of tobacco users falling to 1.2 billion in 2024 from 1.38 billion in 2000.

As more and more regulations help reduce tobacco use, the industry is turning to alternative products such as vape to help offset sales declines.

Tobacco companies say they are targeting adult smokers, with the aim of helping them stop smoking and reducing the dangers of traditional tobacco.

However, e-cigarettes sparked a "new wave of nicotine addiction", said Etienne Krug, director of the WHO's health determinant, promotion and prevention department.

"Electrices are marketed as an effort to reduce the adverse effects, but in reality, it actually makes children addicted to nicotine early and risks hampering the progress that has been achieved for decades," he explained.

Governments and health authorities in the world are grappling with balancing the potential benefits and risks of e-cigarettes, especially their use by new nicotine users.

On the other hand, several studies show that e-cigarettes are effective in helping smokers quit smoking.

A review of 2024 evidence by Cochrane, a network of non-profit health researchers, found smokers are more likely to succeed in quitting smoking with e-cigarettes than traditional plasters or rubber candy.

However, the study also warns that more data and long-term health impacts are needed.

The decline in the use of traditional tobacco varies widely in each region. The prevalence of tobacco use by men in Southeast Asia is almost half to 37 percent by 2024 from 70 percent in 2000, which accounts for more than half of the global decline.

Europe now has the highest prevalence of global tobacco use, which is 24.1 percent, with women engaging in the world's highest tobacco use, which is 17.4 percent.

The WHO warns that nearly one in five adults worldwide are still using tobacco products, and calls for the enforcement of stronger tobacco control measures and new nicotine product regulations such as vape.