90% of young people have never smoked - new AIHW data released
Posted 20 Aug, 2026
The latest findings from the 2025 National Drug Strategy Household Survey published today continue to show encouraging trends, with fewer Australians smoking and vaping.
The proportion of people aged 18-24 who have never smoked has increased to 90.0%, up from 83.4% in 2022-23 and for 25-29-year-olds it is 81.8%, up from 76.1%.
The proportion of young people aged 18-24 currently vaping declined significantly from 20.6% in 2022-23 to 14.0%. Support for the Australian Government’s 2024 vaping reforms remains very strong with three-quarters of respondents (75.1%) supporting limiting the supply of vapes only to pharmacies, 81.5% supporting pharmaceutical-style packaging, and 82.4% supporting restriction on flavours of vapes used for therapeutic purposes.
Quit Director, Rachael Andersen welcomed the findings saying, “Tobacco control in Australia has become increasingly complex. Today’s findings demonstrate that a combination of policy, education, campaigns and services to support quitting are lowering Australians’ desire to keep using nicotine products. We must continue to keep pace with the evolution of the nicotine industry and stand ready to support Australians battling nicotine addiction.”
Among those who smoke or vape, most Australians want to quit. Many reported they had tried to quit smoking in the past year, with 24.7% of those who have recently regularly smoked reporting a successful attempt and 19.0% of people reporting an unsuccessful attempt.
About two in three people who smoke have plans to quit, with just 34.2% reporting that they are not planning to give up. Even among those who say they have no intention to stop smoking, the majority report that they could still be encouraged by a range of factors such as advice from their doctor (15.5%) or finding their own motivation (43%).
About three-quarters of people who vape daily report planning to quit in the future (33.7% in next three months, with 40.3% planning to give up but not in the next three months).
However, the findings also show worrying trends in nicotine addiction that could affect progress in reducing usage among Australians, especially when it comes to vaping and nicotine pouches. About three in five people who currently vape (59.5%) are now vaping every day, and half (49.1%) of daily users report being unable to quit or cut down. The proportion of young people who say they can’t stop vaping has grown substantially over time - up to 45.0% in 2025, from 31.8% in 2022-23 in users aged 15-24. The use of nicotine pouches among young people, particularly young males, is also concerning (13.7% of males aged 18-24 years report past year use, compared with 3.2% of females). Nicotine pouches are known to contain very high levels of nicotine.
“Nicotine use has changed dramatically in the past decade, driven by the rise of new products such as vapes and pouches, and with use of multiple nicotine products by large numbers of young people. Our next challenge is to address nicotine addiction more holistically, to help individuals understand their own patterns of usage and further upskill health professionals and Quitline counsellors to offer the most effective cessation support and medication”, Andersen added.
The findings further emphasise the need to keep strengthening tobacco control legislation. Most Australians support measures such as licencing schemes for retailers (75.7%) and using tobacco taxes to pay for programs and policies supporting prevention and cessation (63.1% to pay for health education, 64.3% to contribute to treatment costs, 59.9% to discourage smoking). A record 85.0% of Australians support bans on tobacco advertising in social media, with notably high levels of support (84.6%) among people who have quit smoking.
Tobacco products contribute to the deaths of 66 Australians a day, or more than 24,000 Australians each year. For free, personalised help to quit nicotine visit quit.org.au or call Quitline 13 7848.
ENDS
Media Manager: Ashleigh Say M: 0435 778 869