Recently, the Korea Disease Administration released a survey report on adult smoking rates from 2019 to 2023. The report shows that while the smoking rate of traditional tobacco is the same, the use of vapes has increased significantly. Smokers are mainly concentrated in 40-year-old men and 20-year-old women.
South Korea study: Adult smoking rate of 22.2%
The Korea Disease Administration recently released a survey report on adult smoking rates from 2019 to 2023, News reported on Aug. 27, according to n.News. The report shows that while smoking rates for traditional tobacco are largely consistent, the use of vapes has risen significantly. Smokers are mainly concentrated in 40-year-old men and 20-year-old women.
According to the report, the smoking rate in South Korea was 22.2 percent, up 0.6 percent percent from 21.6 percent in 2019. In 2019, the use of vapes rose from 5.1 percent to 8.1 percent last year, while the use of traditional tobacco remained stable.
Vape use has increased significantly
In terms of gender, the overall smoking rate among men decreased slightly, from 40.2% in 2019 to 39.9% last year. However, vape use rose dramatically, from 9.4% in 2019 to 14.2%. While smoking rates for women are lower than for men, they are also on the rise, especially since vape use has doubled in three years.
Smoking rates among men and women vary by age, with the highest rates among men in their 40s and women in their 20s.
In terms of regions, Chungbuk had the highest smoking rate last year at 25.0 percent, and the lowest rate was in Sejong at 14.8 percent.
The survey also showed that the smoking rate in non-office occupations is very high, with skilled and manual laborers having the highest rate of 34.4%.
In response, Ji Youngmi, director of the Office of Disease Management, explained that smoking is a major cause of many diseases, including lung cancer, heart disease, and stroke, and may also weaken the immune system and increase the risk of infections. She emphasized that although vapes are in a different form, they are no less harmful to health than traditional tobacco, including a variety of harmful chemicals, and users need to be vigilant.
