Tobacco use amongst teenagers is falling to its lowest level in 25 years as fewer people turn to e-cigarettes

Tobacco product use amongst middle and highschool students has fallen to its lowest level in 25 years, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced Thursday.

The CDC and FDA collected data on youth tobacco product use through the National Youth Tobacco Survey. It found that 2.25 million middle and highschool students reported using tobacco products previously 30 days, up from 2.8 million in 2023.

The decline reflected a decline within the number of scholars who reported using electronic cigarettes, from 2.13 million in 2023 to 1.63 million in 2024.

“We are on the right track when it comes to reducing tobacco use among our nation’s youth,” Brian King, director of the FDA’s Center for Tobacco Products, said in a news release Thursday. “But we must not take our foot off the gas. Continued vigilance is needed to further reduce all forms of tobacco use among youth. Addressing inequalities remains an essential part of this effort to ensure we leave no one behind.”

Female students consistently reported the most important decline in use, and Hispanic students also reported declines in use of all tobacco products. Authorities said evidence-based strategies, including price increases, media campaigns and smoking ban measures, are more likely to have led to a decline in tobacco consumption.

Among students who reported using tobacco products, e-cigarettes remain essentially the most commonly used tobacco product at 5.9%, but nicotine pouches are actually the second mostly used tobacco product at 1.8%, followed by cigarettes at 1. 4%.

Nicotine pouch use amongst students actually increased, although not by enough to be considered significant, from 1.2% in 2023 to 1.8% in 2024, the CDC said in September.

“Youth use of tobacco products in any form – including e-cigarettes and nicotine pouches – is unsafe,” said Deirdre Lawrence Kittner, director of the CDC’s Office on Smoking and Health, in a press release in September. “It is important that we remain vigilant and committed to public health to ensure all youth can lead healthy, tobacco-free lives.”

Zyn was the most well-liked nicotine pouch brand at 68.7%, in comparison with the second hottest brand On at 14.2%.

Zyn, the oral nicotine pouch brand from Philip Morris Internationalexploded in popularity on social media earlier this 12 months which led to a nationwide shortage. Philip Morris announced plans to accomplish that in July Invest 600 million dollars in response to increased demand in a brand new Zyn production facility in Colorado.

The survey was distributed to 29,861 students from 283 schools from January 22 to May 22.