Nicotine consumption shifts to vaping as youth smoking ages drop

Research presented at the European Respiratory Society Congress in Barcelona indicates that while traditional cigarette smoking is declining, nicotine consumption is shifting toward vaping and other alternative products, particularly among younger populations.

A 12-year study in Austria conducted by the Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Lung Health and Sigmund Freud Private University found that smoking rates fell from 24.2% to 16.3% between 2012 and 2024. However, the use of alternative nicotine products, such as e-cigarettes, rose from 0% to 17.2% in the same period. Additionally, the proportion of individuals using multiple nicotine products increased from 5.2% to 18.3%.

The data also highlights a significant drop in the age of nicotine initiation. In Austria, the average starting age fell from 20 years for those born in the 1930s to approximately 15 years for those born in the 2000s. The percentage of minors under 18 who smoke nearly doubled, rising from 2.6% to 5%.

In Ireland, studies following adolescents showed a similar trend. Among 15 and 16-year-olds, smoking decreased slightly, but vaping increased. Notably, the share of young vapers who had never smoked a cigarette first rose from 50.2% to 76.2%, suggesting that vaping is increasingly serving as the primary entry point to nicotine for many teenagers.