WHO Report Warns: Global Smoking Decline Overshadowed by Rise in Vaping

The world is smoking less than ever before, but the tobacco epidemic remains a grave public health challenge. A new World Health Organization (WHO) report reveals that while global tobacco use has fallen dramatically over the past two decades—from 1.38 billion users in 2000 to 1.2 billion in 2024 —the rise of new nicotine products, especially e-cigarettes , threatens to reverse decades of progress in curbing addiction.

A Major Milestone Shadowed by a New Threat

The report, part of WHO’s ongoing global tobacco surveillance initiative, shows a 27% relative decline in tobacco use since 2010. Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus , WHO Director-General, hailed the progress but warned that the tobacco industry is “ fighting back with new nicotine products, aggressively targeting young peo