South Korea Youth Smoking Falls by One-Third in 20 Years, Vape Use Steady

Nov.22.2024
South Korea Youth Smoking Falls by One-Third in 20 Years, Vape Use Steady
The latest youth survey in South Korea shows that over the past 20 years, the youth smoking rate has dropped by one-third, while vape usage remains similar to the previous year with no significant changes.

According to an N.News report on November 22, the 2024 Youth Health Behavior Survey, led by South Korea's Ministry of Education and the Disease Control and Prevention Agency, shows that the smoking rate among Korean teenagers has dropped by one-third over the past 20 years.

 

Since 2005, the survey has been conducted annually with a sample of middle and high school students nationwide. The 2024 survey, conducted from June 10 to July 12, involved approximately 60,000 students from 800 middle and high schools across the country.

 

The results indicate that in 2024, the smoking rate was 4.8% for boys and 2.4% for girls, compared to 14.3% for boys and 8.9% for girls in 2005, marking a one-third decline. The usage rates of vapes remained similar to the previous year for liquid-type (boys: 3.7%, girls: 2.2%) and cigarette-type (boys: 2.4%, girls: 1.4%) products.

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