The World Health Organisation (WHO) has raised concern over the growing number of people using e-cigarettes, describing the trend as “alarming”. In its first-ever global estimates on vaping, the health body reported that more than 100 million people worldwide now use e-cigarettes, including at least 86 million adults and nearly 15 million children aged between 13 and 15. The WHO warned that these products, often promoted as smoking cessation tools, risk reversing decades of progress in reducing nicotine addiction.
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According to the WHO’s Global Tobacco Trends report, around 1.9% of adults vape, while 7.2% of adolescents aged 13 to 15 use e-cigarettes. The organisation added that these figures likely underestimate the true scale of youth vaping, with rates among teenagers almost nine times higher than those among adults. The report noted that “adolescents are generally using the products at a higher rate than adults”, blaming aggressive marketing tactics aimed at children and the use of poorly regulated digital platforms.
Etienne Krug, director of the WHO’s Health Determinants, Promotion and Prevention department, said: “E-cigarettes are fuelling a new wave of nicotine addiction. They are marketed as harm reduction but, in reality, are hooking kids on nicotine earlier and risk undermining decades of progress.” Despite a decline in global smoking rates—from 1.38 billion people in 2000 to 1.2 billion in 2024—the WHO warned that “the tobacco epidemic is far from over”. Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the organisation’s director-general, said governments must act “faster and stronger” to implement proven tobacco control measures.
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Hazel Cheeseman, chief executive of Action on Smoking and Health (ASH), said that in the UK, vaping’s rise was initially driven by its use as a tool to quit smoking. However, she cautioned that the increase in teenage vaping requires immediate attention. “Products that contain addictive substances must be properly regulated,” she said. The forthcoming Tobacco and Vapes Bill, expected to return to Parliament later this month, aims to ensure that vapes are not marketed to children while remaining accessible to adults seeking to stop smoking.
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