Tobacco product use among middle and high school students has dropped to a 25-year low, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced Thursday.
The CDC and FDA recorded data on youth tobacco product use through the National Youth Tobacco Survey, which found that 2.25 million middle and high school students reported they had used any tobacco product in the past 30 days, down from 2.8 million in 2023.
The drop reflected a decline in students who said they were using electronic cigarettes, down to 1.63 million in 2024 from 2.13 million in 2023.
“We’re headed in the right direction when it comes to reducing tobacco product use among our nation’s youth,” Brian King, director of the FDA’s Center for Tobacco Products, said in a press release Thursday. “But we can’t take our foot off the gas. Continued vigilance is needed to continue to reduce all forms of tobacco product use among youth. Addressing disparities remains an essential part of these efforts to ensure that we don’t leave anyone behind.”
Female students reported the biggest decline in use across the board, and Hispanic students also reported a drop in use of any tobacco product. Evidence-based strategies, including price increases, media campaigns and smoke-free policies, are likely part of what caused tobacco product use to drop, according to the agencies.
E-cigarettes continue to be the most used among students who reported tobacco product use, at 5.9%, but nicotine pouches are now the second-most commonly used tobacco product, at 1.8%, followed by cigarettes at 1.4%.
Nicotine pouch use actually grew among students, though not 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,” Deirdre Lawrence Kittner, director of the CDC’s Office on Smoking and Health, said in a press release in September. “It’s essential that we remain vigilant and committed to public health efforts to ensure all youth can live healthy, tobacco-free lives.”
Zyn was the most-popular nicotine pouch brand, at 68.7%, compared with the next most-popular brand On at 14.2%.
Zyn, the oral nicotine pouch brand owned by Philip Morris International, exploded in popularity on social media earlier this year, which led to a nationwide shortage. Philip Morris in July announced plans to invest $600 million into a new Zyn production facility in Colorado in response to the spike in demand.
The survey was distributed among 29,861 students from 283 schools between Jan. 22 and May 22.