World smoking rates: Global tobacco use has fallen from 1.38 billion users in 2000 to 1.2 billion in 2024, a net decline of 120 million since 2010, but the epidemic is “far from over,” the World Health Organization warns in a new report. Nearly one in five adults still uses tobacco, driving millions of preventable deaths each year.
WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus credited national control efforts for the gains, while cautioning that the industry is “fighting back with new nicotine products” that aggressively target young people.
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For the first time, the WHO estimates that more than 100 million people now use e-cigarettes, including at least 86 million adults and about 15 million adolescents aged 13–15. In countries with data, children are on average nine times more likely than adults to vape. “E-cigarettes are fuelling a new wave of nicotine addiction,” said Etienne Krug, warning that decades of progress could be undermined.
Trends differ sharply by gender. Women have led the quit movement, hitting the global 30% reduction target five years early in 2020. Female prevalence dropped from 11% in 2010 to 6.6% in 2024, with the number of women who use tobacco falling from 277 million to 206 million. Men still account for more than 80% of all users worldwide. Although the male prevalence declined from 41.4% in 2010 to 32.5% in 2024, the target is not expected to be met until 2031.
Regional patterns are uneven. In South-East Asia, once the world’s hotspot, prevalence among men nearly halved from 70% in 2000 to 37% in 2024, contributing more than half of the global decline. Africa has the lowest regional prevalence at 9.5% in 2024 and remains on track for targets, yet absolute numbers continue to rise because of population growth. The Americas achieved a 36% relative reduction, bringing prevalence down to 14% in 2024, though data gaps persist in some countries. Europe now has the highest prevalence globally at 24.1%, with women in Europe showing the world’s highest female prevalence at 17.4%. The Eastern Mediterranean region stands at 18%, with increases in some countries, while the Western Pacific shows the slowest progress, at 22.9% in 2024 versus 25.8% in 2010. Women in this region have a low prevalence of 2.5%, but men have the highest prevalence of any region, at 43.3%.
WHO is urging governments to tighten and fully enforce the MPOWER package and the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, close loopholes that allow the nicotine industry to target children, regulate new products such as e-cigarettes, heated tobacco and nicotine pouches, raise taxes, ban advertising, and expand cessation services.
The findings come from the “WHO global report on trends in prevalence of tobacco use 2000–2024 and projections 2025–2030,” based on 2,034 national surveys covering 97% of the global population. Progress toward the 2025 goal of a 30% relative reduction now stands at 27%, leaving the world about 50 million users above target.
