A surge in e-cigarette use is sparking fresh concerns from the World Health Organization about a wave of nicotine addiction—reporting that more than 100 million people worldwide now vape, including at least 15 million teenagers. The agency's warns that young people are getting hooked on nicotine at far higher rates than adults, with children nine times as likely to pick up the habit, the BBC reports. The report represents the WHO's first estimate of e-cigarette use worldwide, per Reuters.
Often promoted as a safer alternative to smoking, e-cigarettes are fueling what the WHO's Dr. Etienne Krug calls a "new wave" of nicotine addiction that threatens to undo decades of progress against tobacco use. Director General Tedros Ghebreyesus argues that the tobacco industry is "aggressively targeting" young people with new nicotine products as traditional tobacco use declines globally, per the BBC, a decline partly attributable to government campaigns. Still, the report estimates, 86 million adults—mostly in wealthier countries—use e-cigarettes.
The real tally might be higher, since many countries don't track vaping data at all. As of early 2024, 62 countries lacked any e-cigarette regulations, and 74 had no minimum purchase age. Traditional tobacco use has dropped from 1.38 billion users in 2000 to 1.2 billion this year. The most notable decline has been among women, whose tobacco use has nearly halved in the past decade and a half. Still, about 1 in 5 adults smokes, with tobacco remaining a major contributor to disease worldwide.
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