The World Health Organization’s new Global Report on Tobacco Trends 2000–2024 paints a complex picture: while smoking rates continue to fall, one in five adults worldwide still uses tobacco. Between 2000 and 2024, the global number of tobacco users declined from 1.38 billion to 1.2 billion, an impressive 120 million fewer smokers since 2010. Yet, as the WHO itself acknowledges, the tobacco epidemic remains far from over.
“Millions of people are stopping, or not taking up, tobacco use thanks to tobacco control efforts by countries around the world,” said WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. “In response to this strong progress, the tobacco industry is fighting back with new nicotine products, aggressively targeting young people.”
However, the WHO’s interpretation, equating all nicotine products with tobacco harm, continues to draw concern from harm reduction experts worldwide. While vigilance over youth access is essential, failing to distinguish between combustible tobacco and smoke-free alternatives risks undermining progress for adult smokers seeking to quit.
A Closer Look at the Numbers
The WHO report provides new global estimates on e-cigarette and alternative nicotine product use, highlighting that more than 100 million people worldwide now vape, 86 million adults, and around 15 million adolescents aged 13–15. The data show that children are, on average, nine times more likely than adults to use e-cigarettes in countries where youth data are available.
The WHO further groups products like nicotine pouches, heated tobacco, and e-cigarettes under the same category of “harmful new nicotine products.” Yet, toxicological and clinical evidence increasingly shows that these smoke-free alternatives expose users to drastically fewer harmful chemicals compared with cigarettes.
According to GINN, this lack of differentiation is counterproductive: by failing to recognize the spectrum of risk between combustible and non-combustible nicotine, public health policy risks driving adult smokers away from regulated, safer options and toward unregulated black markets.
Gender and Regional Shifts
Encouragingly, the WHO report notes that women have led the global quit movement, meeting the 30% reduction target for tobacco use five years early. Female tobacco prevalence fell from 11% in 2010 to just 6.6% in 2024, marking a drop of 71 million women users in just over a decade.
In contrast, male tobacco use, representing four out of five global users, has declined more slowly, from 41% to 32.5%. Men are not expected to meet the global target until 2031.
Regionally, South-East Asia has seen the greatest progress, halving tobacco prevalence among men from 70% in 2000 to 37% in 2024. Africa remains the lowest-prevalence region (9.5%), while Europe continues to record the highest smoking rates globally (24.1%), particularly among women.
A Call for Smarter Tobacco Control
The WHO calls for “stronger and faster” implementation of its MPOWER package, raising tobacco taxes, banning advertising, expanding cessation services, and closing loopholes that allow nicotine products to reach youth.
But while these measures are important, GINN emphasizes that science-based differentiation must be at the heart of future policy. Treating all nicotine products as equally harmful undermines innovation, stifles harm reduction, and may inadvertently protect the cigarette market by removing viable alternatives for adults who cannot or will not quit nicotine.
As Professor Jeremy Farrar, WHO’s Assistant Director-General for Health Promotion, noted: “Nearly 20% of adults still use tobacco and nicotine products. We cannot let up now.” GINN agrees, and adds that quitting smoking entirely or switching to safer, non-combustible products must both remain valid, evidence-backed pathways to better health.
GINN’s Perspective
At GINN, we support the WHO’s goal of reducing smoking worldwide. But we believe progress will accelerate only when policymakers differentiate between nicotine use and tobacco combustion. Smoke-free products such as pouches, vaping devices, and heated tobacco can and already do help millions move away from cigarettes.
The global decline in smoking is a milestone worth celebrating. The next step is ensuring harm reduction is part of the solution—not mistakenly treated as part of the problem.
Reference:
World Health Organization (2025). WHO Global Report on Trends in Prevalence of Tobacco Use 2000–2024 and Projections 2025–2030. Published 6 October 2025.
