Overview

• In countries with available data, 13–15-year-olds are on average nine times more likely to vape than adults, the agency reports.
• The estimate of roughly 15 million adolescent users is likely an undercount because national vaping surveys cover only about 75% of the world’s population.
• Global tobacco users declined to 1.2 billion in 2024 from 1.38 billion in 2000, yet nearly one in five adults still use tobacco products.
• Europe now has the highest regional tobacco prevalence at 24.1%, and women in the region have the world’s highest female prevalence at 17.4%.
• WHO is pressing for tighter rules, higher taxes, and stronger enforcement, while EU officials, including Tax Commissioner Wopke Hoekstra, signal plans to extend taxation to vapes.