Europe Has Highest Smoking Rates Globally: WHO Report
Europe now has the highest rate of tobacco use in the world, surpassing Southeast Asia, according to a new report from the World Health Organization (WHO). The data from 2024 indicates that just under a quarter (24.1%) of people aged 15 and over in the WHO’s broader European region use tobacco. The report also highlights that European women have the highest global prevalence of tobacco use at 17.4%.
While global tobacco prevalence is falling, the rate of decline in Europe is slower than in other regions. Tobacco use in Europe fell from nearly 35% in 2000 to just over 24% in 2020. In contrast, consumption in Southeast Asia plummeted from around 54% to just over 23% during the same period. The latest EU data from a June 2024 Eurobarometer survey aligns with the WHO’s findings, showing 24% of people in the bloc smoked tobacco.
The WHO report also recorded global vaping rates for the first time, revealing figures that were described as “alarming,” especially among young people. The Americas and Europe had the highest prevalence of vape use among those aged 15 and over, at 4.8% and 4.6% respectively. Globally, over 86 million adults vaped in 2024. Among adolescents aged 13 to 15, an estimated 7.2% (around 14.7 million children) use e-cigarettes, a figure the WHO believes is “almost certainly an undercount” due to incomplete survey coverage.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned that “the tobacco industry is fighting back with new nicotine products, aggressively targeting young people,” and urged governments to act “faster and stronger.” Etienne Krug, a WHO department head, added, “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.”
These findings land as the European Commission pledges a tougher stance on tobacco and vape products. EU Tax Commissioner Wopke Hoekstra has stated that vapes are “killing our kids” and plans to extend the Tobacco Taxation Directive to include new products. Health Commissioner Olivér Várhelyi has also expressed a desire to eventually raise minimum taxes on vapes to align with those on traditional tobacco, signaling a coordinated push to curb the use of all nicotine products across the continent.
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