Drop in conventional smoking offset by rise in e-cigarettes and liquids, particularly among youth, women

Korea is smoking less — and yet it is barely making a dent in its tobacco problem. A surge in e-cigarette use, particularly among young adults and women, is effectively canceling out the decline in conventional cigarette smoking, according to government data released Sunday.

Data by the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA), released on World No Tobacco Day, showed that the adult smoking rate for conventional cigarettes fell to 17.9 percent last year, down one percentage point from the previous year. But use of heated tobacco products and liquid e-cigarettes rose to 6.3 percent and 4.5 percent, respectively. Over the seven years since e-cigarette statistics were first collected in 2019, the use rate for heated tobacco products has climbed 90.9 percent, while liquid e-cigarette use has risen 73.1 percent.

Overall tobacco product use stood at 22.1 percent last year. Among tobacco users, one in five, or 21.3 percent, reported using two or more types of tobacco products simultaneously, a pattern more common among younger users. 

The results are drawn from data from its 2025 Community Health Survey, an annual nationwide survey of approximately 230,000 adults aged 19 and older. 

The rise in e-cigarette use was sharpest among people in their 20s and 30s. The rate of heated tobacco product use among people in their 20s more than doubled, from 4.3 percent in 2019 to 8.8 percent last year. Liquid e-cigarette use also grew significantly in the same age group. The agency said the data confirmed a clear trend: the younger the age group, the greater the share of e-cigarette users within it.

The increase among women was also notable. Women's use of heated tobacco products rose from 0.5 percent in 2019 to 1.4 percent last year, while liquid e-cigarette use among women grew from 0.5 percent to 1.2 percent over the same period. 

Although women's overall usage rates remain lower than men's, the rate of increase was faster among women. Among women in their 20s in particular, the gender gap in e-cigarette use was considerably narrower than the gap in conventional cigarette smoking.

Regional differences were also significant. Overall, tobacco product use was relatively high in North Chungcheong, Gangwon, South Chungcheong and North Gyeongsang, and relatively low in Sejong, Seoul, North Jeolla and Busan. The breakdown varied by product type: Conventional cigarette smoking rates were highest in South Chungcheong, North Chungcheong and Gangwon, while heated tobacco product use was highest in Gyeonggi, Sejong, Daejeon and Ulsan. Liquid e-cigarette use was highest in Ulsan, followed by Seoul and South Chungcheong and then Gyeonggi.

The agency expressed concern that e-cigarettes are not simply replacing conventional cigarettes but are increasingly being used alongside them. People who use multiple tobacco products simultaneously tend to have higher nicotine dependence, reducing their chances of successfully quitting, and face greater exposure to multiple harmful chemicals at once.

“E-cigarette use is growing, centered on young people in their 20s and 30s and women, and one in five tobacco product users is using multiple tobacco products simultaneously,” said KDCA commissioner Lim Seung-kwan. “A comprehensive tobacco cessation policy that covers not only conventional cigarettes but also e-cigarettes is needed.”

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.

BY RHE ESTHER [[email protected]]