WHO Estimates 15 Million Children Worldwide Now Vape
More than 100 million people around the world are now vaping — and 15 million of them are kids aged just 13 to 15, according to a new report from the World Health Organization (WHO). The global health agency has called this trend “alarming”, warning that e-cigarettes are fuelling a “new wave of nicotine addiction”.
Based on data from 123 countries, teenagers are now nine times more likely to vape than adults in places where information is available. But the WHO believes even that figure may be an undercount, especially in regions where no official data is collected. While global tobacco use is falling, with the number of users dropping from 1.38 billion in 2000 to 1.2 billion in 2024, the decline hasn’t come without a catch. Traditional smoking rates are down — particularly among women, where usage fell from 11% in 2010 to 6.6% in 2024 — but the tobacco industry has pivoted to promote e-cigarettes as an alternative.
The WHO says e-cigarette companies are aggressively targeting children and young people, often using digital platforms with little regulation. This shift, the report warns, is designed to replace the shrinking adult smoking market with younger, long-term users. “E-cigarettes are fuelling a new wave of nicotine addiction,” said Dr Etienne Krug, director at the WHO. “They are marketed as harm reduction but, in reality, are hooking kids on nicotine earlier and risk undermining decades of progress.”
While some experts and studies suggest that vaping may help adult smokers quit, the WHO cautions that the long-term health effects remain unclear, and the addictive nature of nicotine is still a serious concern. A recent Cochrane review found e-cigarettes were more effective at helping people quit smoking than traditional nicotine patches or gum — but also noted that more research is needed on long-term safety.
The report revealed that vaping is most common in high-income countries, where 86 million adult users are concentrated. But global data is patchy — 109 countries don’t collect any figures on e-cigarette use, and 74 have no legal minimum age for purchase. As of the end of 2024, 62 countries still had no policy on regulating e-cigarettes at all.
The WHO is urging governments to step up and enforce tougher regulations — not just on traditional tobacco but also on new nicotine products like vapes. “The tobacco epidemic is far from over,” the report concludes. With one in five adults still using tobacco globally and e-cigarette use rising fast among teens, public health officials say the battle is far from won — and the next generation is already at risk.
