Electronic Cigarettes That Raised the Smoking Rate

More Than 2 Out of 10 Adults Are Smokers
Male Smoking Rate Slightly Decreases Over 5 Years While Female Rate Increases
Conventional Cigarette Usage Remains Steady... Female Exclusive Usage Doubles in 5 Years

While the proportion of smokers using conventional cigarettes has remained relatively stable, the number of e-cigarette users has continued to rise, driving an overall increase in the smoking rate.

According to the "2019-2023 Community Health Survey" results analyzed and released by the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency on the 27th, the smoking rate among Korean adults in 2023 was 22.2%, up 0.6 percentage points from 21.6% in 2019.

Image sketch related to smoking and smoking cessation. Photo by Jo Yongjun jun21@

Looking at the types of tobacco products, the smoking rate for conventional cigarettes (cigarettes) remained unchanged at 20.3% in both 2019 and 2023, showing little change over five years. However, the usage rate of e-cigarettes (liquid type or heated tobacco products) increased by 3.0 percentage points from 5.1% in 2019 to 8.1% in 2023.

By gender, the tobacco product usage rate among men slightly decreased from 40.2% in 2019 to 39.9% in 2023. During this period, the conventional cigarette smoking rate dropped by 1.3 percentage points from 37.4% to 36.1%, while the e-cigarette usage rate rose by 4.8 percentage points from 9.4% to 14.2%.

The tobacco product usage rate among women increased from 3.2% in 2019 to 4.9% in 2023, remaining lower than that of men but showing an upward trend. The conventional cigarette smoking rate among women rose by 1.0 percentage point from 3.0% to 4.0%, and the e-cigarette usage rate nearly doubled from 1.0% to 2.1%.

By age group, the highest tobacco product usage rate among men was in their 40s (47.8%), while among women it was in their 20s (8.9%).

By city and province, Chungbuk had the highest tobacco product usage rate at 25.0%, while Sejong had the lowest at 14.8%. Among the 17 cities and provinces, six areas saw a worsening in tobacco product usage rates compared to the previous year, including Gangwon (+1.8 percentage points), Chungbuk (+1.6 percentage points), and Chungnam (+1.4 percentage points).

Eleven cities and provinces showed improvements in smoking rates, including Sejong and Jeju (-3.2 percentage points), Incheon (-2.3 percentage points), and Gyeongnam (-1.0 percentage point). Among districts and counties, the three-year average (2021-2023) tobacco product usage rate was highest in Michuhol-gu, Incheon at 29.2%, followed by Pocheon, Gyeonggi at 28.3%, and Jeungpyeong, Chungbuk at 27.9%. Areas with the lowest tobacco product usage rates included Gwacheon, Gyeonggi (13.8%), Bundang-gu, Seongnam, Gyeonggi (14.0%), and Yeongtong-gu, Suwon, Gyeonggi (15.8%).

By occupation, smoking rates were higher among non-office workers. The tobacco product usage rate was highest among workers in skilled, simple, and labor jobs at 34.4%, followed by service and sales workers at 22.8%, and agriculture, forestry, and fishery workers at 21.8%. The smoking rate among professionals, administrators, and managers was 19.6%.

Ji Young-mi, director of the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, stated, "E-cigarettes, like conventional cigarettes, can cause respiratory and cardiovascular diseases and contain highly addictive substances such as nicotine, as well as various chemicals that can negatively impact health, so caution is necessary." She urged, "If you have difficulty quitting smoking, please participate in smoking cessation clinics at local public health centers."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.