The European Public Health Association (EUPHA) expresses deep concern at the alarming new evidence from the World Health Organization (WHO) showing that Europe is failing to protect its young people from the growing threats of smoking, vaping, and the rapidly evolving nicotine market. Newly released WHO EURO factsheets on tobacco control paint a consistent and deeply troubling picture: Europe is on track to remain the worst-performing region in the world for tobacco use by 2030, with stagnant or worsening trends among adolescents and young women.
The WHO’s 2026 regional factsheets reveal that the WHO European Region continues to have the highest tobacco use prevalence globally, and is the only region not expected to meet the global target of a 30% reduction in tobacco use among women by 2025. Over 40% of the world’s adult female smokers, 62 million women, live in our Region, and girls aged 13–15 now have the highest tobacco use prevalence among girls globally. Equally alarming data on vaping mirror these trends. Across the region, 4 million adolescents aged 13–15 use tobacco products, and the average e-cigarette use prevalence among adolescents stands at 14.3%—the highest in the world, with boys and girls affected at similar levels. One in seven children aged 13–15 uses e-cigarettes, and the rise of nicotine pouches, flavoured vapes, and other novel products has broadened the pathways through which young people are exposed to addiction. These trends are not accidental: they are the result of deliberate industry strategies targeting young people, using flavours, lifestyle branding, and sophisticated social media campaigns.
Despite progress in some areas, the factsheets highlight profound implementation gaps across Europe. Only 18 of 53 countries have comprehensive smoke-free laws, only 12 provide national quit lines and fund cessation services, and only 13 have comprehensive bans on tobacco advertising, promotion, and sponsorship. In 19 countries, cigarettes are more affordable today than in 2014, undermining years of progress. Regulation of e-cigarettes and emerging nicotine products remains highly fragmented, leaving large loopholes that industry actors continue to exploit.
These gaps place Europe’s young people in harm’s way. The failure to extend traditional tobacco control measures to e-cigarettes, nicotine pouches, and other novel products has created conditions in which nicotine addiction is increasingly normalised. The factsheets show that while monitoring and warning measures are relatively strong, enforcement of advertising bans, protection from tobacco smoke, and investment in cessation support remain inadequate.
EUPHA believes that Europe now stands at a critical crossroads. The evidence is unequivocal: without a major acceleration of policy ambition, enforcement, and cross-border coordination, Europe will fail yet another generation of young people, locking millions into lifelong addiction and preventable disease. As Dr Hans Kluge, WHO Regional Director for Europe, warns, over 1.1 million people in the region already die each year as a result of tobacco use, and “decades of progress are at risk unless policies keep pace with a rapidly evolving nicotine landscape.”
Europe must act—and must act together. We call on Europe’s governments to adopt a coordinated, comprehensive, and forward-looking approach to tobacco and nicotine control. Crucially, EU Member States should fully utilise the scope set out in the legislation to go beyond the minimum requirements of the EU Tobacco Products Directive (TPD). The TPD sets important baselines, but it does not prevent Member States from adopting stricter rules, many of which are now urgently needed.
Specifically, we urge governments to:
- Ban all flavours in e-cigarettes and novel nicotine products, which are a primary driver of youth uptake. Evidence from Belgium, Denmark, and the Netherlands shows that stricter regulation works.
- Introduce comprehensive bans on all forms of advertising, promotion, and sponsorship, including digital and influencer-based marketing.
- Adopt and enforce 100% smoke‑free and vape-free laws across all indoor public places.
- Raise taxes on all nicotine products, ensuring cigarettes, vapes, and pouches become less, not more, affordable over time.
- Invest in cessation support and national quit lines to expand access for young people and adults alike.
- Extend plain packaging requirements to all nicotine products, including e-cigarettes.
- Implement monitoring systems that capture emerging products and online sales channels.
Europe’s young people deserve a future free from addiction, disease, and the predatory targeting of the nicotine industry. The data presented by WHO is a wake-up call. EUPHA urges governments to act decisively, before today’s crisis becomes tomorrow’s catastrophe.
