27% drop as tobacco still fuelling millions of preventable deaths

A new World Health Organization (WHO) global report has showed that number of tobacco users has dropped from 1.38 billion in 2000 to 1.2 billion in 2024 as the world is smoking less, but the tobacco epidemic is far from over.

Released recently, the WHO report revealed further that since 2010, the number of people using tobacco has dropped by 120 million, a 27% drop in relative terms, adding that yet, tobacco still hooks one in five adults worldwide, fuelling millions of preventable deaths every year.

For the first time, WHO has estimated global e-cigarette use with the numbers alarming: more than 100 million people worldwide are now vaping.
This includes: Adults: at least 86 million users, mostly in high-income countries. Adolescents: at least 15 million children (13–15 years) already using e-cigarettes, revealing further that in countries with data, children are on average nine times more likely than adults to vape.

The report stated that the tobacco industry is introducing an incessant chain of new products and technologies for its aim to market tobacco addiction with not just cigarettes but also e-cigarettes.

It added that nicotine pouches, heated tobacco products among others, which harm people’s health, more worryingly the health of new generations, youth and adolescents.
“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.

The DG added that, “In response to this strong progress, the tobacco industry is fighting back with new nicotine products, aggressively targeting young people. Governments must act faster, stronger in implementing proven tobacco control policies.”

The report disclosed further that kore women are quitting tobacco than men. While there has been a steady decline in tobacco use for both men and women across all age-groups during 2000–2024, women have been leading the charge to quit tobacco.
“They hit the global reduction target for 2025 five years early, reaching the 30% milestone back in 2020. Prevalence of tobacco use among women dropped from 11% in 2010 to just 6.6% in 2024, with the number of female tobacco users falling from 277 million in 2010 to 206 million in 2024.

“By contrast, men are not expected to reach the goal until 2031. Today, more than four out of five tobacco users worldwide are men, with just under 1 billion men still using tobacco. While prevalence among men has fallen from 41.4% in 2010 to 32.5% in 2024, the pace of change is too slow.

Regional picture revealed that
South-East Asia: Once the world’s hotspot, prevalence among men nearly halved – from 70% in 2000 to 37% in 2024, which alone accounts for over half of the global decline.
Africa, on the other hand, prevalence is the lowest of all regions at 9.5% in 2024, and it is on track to meet the 30% target. However, because of population growth, the absolute number of tobacco users continues to rise.

Americas: The Region has achieved a 36% relative reduction, with prevalence dropping to 14% in 2024, though some countries still lack sufficient data.

Europe: This is now the highest- prevalence Region globally, with 24.1% of adults using tobacco in 2024, with women in Europe having the highest global prevalence at 17.4%.
Eastern Mediterranean: Prevalence is 18%, with tobacco use continuing to rise in some countries.

Western Pacific: With 22.9% of adults using tobacco in 2024, down from 25.8% in 2010, the progress in this Region is the slowest. While women have low prevalence at 2.5%, men have the highest prevalence of all regions at 43.3%.

WHO urged governments everywhere to step up tobacco control, which means fully implementing and enforcing the MPOWER package and the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.

Closing loopholes that allow the tobacco and nicotine industries to target children, and regulating new nicotine products like e-cigarettes, also raising tobacco taxes, banning advertising, and expanding the cessation services so that millions more people can quit.