Islamabad: Current tobacco use among students aged 13-15 fell from 10.7% in 2013 to 6.8% in 2022 - a relative decline of 36%. Youth Tobacco Use Has Fallen by More Than a Third Since 2013 - But E-Cigarettes Have Arrived, Stick Sales Have Nearly Doubled, and Fewer Young Smokers Are Getting Help to Quit
Cigarette use declined the fastest, falling from 3.3% to 1.3%. E-cigarette use, not measured in 2013, stood at 3.1% in 2022 - already higher than current cigarette use (1.3%), making e-cigarettes the most prevalent smoked product among Pakistani youth.
Smokeless tobacco use declined only marginally from 5.3% to 4.4% over nine years, remaining the second most common form of tobacco use among students.
7.6% of students in 2022 reported ever trying nicotine pouches (such as Velo) - a product category not measured in 2013 and not yet widely discussed in tobacco control discourse in Pakistan.
One in four (25.3%) of ever-cigarette smokers in 2022 first tried smoking before the age of 10, and 14.2% before age 7 - indicating that initiation remains concentrated at very young ages.
Among current smokers in 2022, 57.2% showed signs of nicotine dependence, and 65.8% tried to quit in the past 12 months - yet only 19.8% ever received help from a professional or programme.
The proportion of young smokers who received professional help to quit fell from 27.0% in 2013 to 15.9% in 2022 - a decline of 11.1 percentage points - meaning fewer young smokers are accessing support even as more are trying to quit.
Among students who tried to buy cigarettes in 2022, 68.1% were not prevented from doing so because of their age - up from 44.9% in 2013, despite a 2018 regulatory order prohibiting loose cigarette sales.
The proportion of young smokers buying cigarettes as individual sticks rose from 35.2% in 2013 to 60.3% in 2022 - directly contradicting the regulatory intent of the 2018 prohibition on single-stick sales.
The share of students who definitely believe secondhand smoke is harmful to them dropped from 75.9% in 2013 to 54.5% in 2022 - a decline of 21.4 percentage points, the largest negative trend in the dataset.