More than 3.5 million Australians aged 14 and older smoke or vape according to new research, with rates increasing among younger people.
Research prepared for the Australian Health Department by Cancer Victoria looked at the number of people vaping and smoking between January 2018 to March 2023.
It found there had been a strong rise in vapers under the age of 25 and smoking rates had drastically increased for teenagers since 2020.
Lead researcher on the report, Professor Sarah Durkin, said the results were concerning.
"This is the first time we've seen an increase in teen smoking since the early-to-mid-1990s," she said.
"The earlier a person starts experimenting with cigarettes the greater their likelihood of becoming a regular, long-term user.
"And we know cigarettes kill up to two in three long-term users."
Overall there had been a significant jump in the number of Australians that vape (7.3 per cent of the population) but there were still more smokers (8.9 per cent of the population).
The data comes just days after the federal government released its proposed legislation to crack down on the tobacco industry.
Health Minister Mark Butler said the new laws were an attempt to try and reduce rates.
"I'm not going to raise the white flag on smoking at 12 per cent of adults," he said on Wednesday.
"I'm particularly not going to raise the white flag at a time when smoking rates amongst our youngest citizens is actually climbing, frankly, as a result of a deliberate strategy by the industry to create a pathway into smoking, to create a new generation of nicotine addicts."
Vaping rates
Vaping rates across the population have been on the rise since 2018, with a significant jump between 2020 and March 2023.
People aged between 18 and 24 recorded the highest increase in vaping rates in recent years, reaching nearly 20 per cent earlier this year.
The 25 to 34 year olds had the second highest prevalence of vaping in 2023, followed by those aged between 14 to 17.
For the youngest cohort (14 to 17) less than one per cent vaped in 2018 but it climbed to nearly more than 14 per cent by March 2023.
However rates of vaping in people aged over 50 remained low, at less than three per cent.
Last month Health Minister Mark Butler announced a raft of changes to try and address growing vaping rates, including banning the product for recreational use.
Smoking cigarettes
Across the population, smoking rates have remained stable in recent years.
The research found rates dropped at the beginning of the pandemic but then started rising back to pre-COVID levels by the end of 2020.
While younger Australians were less likely to smoke, rates have been on the rise.
There was a significant jump in tobacco smoking among teenagers aged between 14 to 17.
In 2018, just over two per cent smoked cigarettes but that increased to nearly 13 per cent by March 2023.
Epidemiologist and public health physician Professor Emily Banks from the Australian National University's National Centre for Epidemiology has examined the health effects of vaping and said the figures that show an increase of vaping and smoking in younger Australians was of a concern.
"The link between vaping and smoking uptake in cohort studies is strong and consistent," she said.
"One of the biggest worries in public health is that widespread vaping will reverse our amazing progress in reducing smoking in children and adolescents in Australia.
"The new findings showing trends of rising smoking in 14-17 year olds for the first time in more than two decades, alongside increasing vaping, are alarming and exactly what we didn't want to see."
One choice or two
Of the Australians that smoke or vape or use both products, the prevalence of exclusive smoking was much higher than vaping or the use of both.
Nearly half only smoked, 31 per cent only vaped while 20 per cent smoked and vaped.
Across the age groups, exclusive vaping was more prevalent in younger people.
The use of both e-cigarettes and tobacco increased the most among people under 35.
The age groups with the highest rates of just vaping ranged between 18 to 34 years of age.
While exclusive smoking was highest in people aged 50 and older.
