Youth vaping on the decline, federal survey shows

Washington Post — Nearly 6 percent of U.S. middle and high school students reported using e-cigarettes this year compared to last year’s 7.7 percent.

A teen vapes near the boardwalk in Ocean City, Md. (Shuran Huang for The Washington Post)

Youth e-cigarette use has declined nearly 70 percent since its peak in 2019, federal officials said Thursday, touting the new results of an annual government survey as progress in the fight against the popular products that have hooked adolescents on nicotine.

Nearly 6 percent of U.S. middle and high school students reported using e-cigarettes this year compared with last year’s 7.7 percent. The vast majority flocked to flavored products, with fruit being the most common, followed by candy and mint.

The decline marks the lowest level of youth e-cigarette use in a decade, federal officials said, and was largely driven by a decrease in vaping among high school students. About 1.21 million high school students surveyed this year said they had used an e-cigarette in the past 30 days, compared with 1.56 million in 2023, according to the National Youth Tobacco Survey by the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

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