Most regular smokers begin their tobacco use before reaching the age of 20

Health · Published 24 October 2026 Swipe more like this →

In short: Researchers who modeled global data from hundreds of national surveys found that a significant majority of current tobacco users began smoking regularly during their youth. The study identified that approximately 82.6% of current smokers started between ages 14 and 25, with nearly one-fifth beginning as early as age 15.

The findings highlight a critical window for public health interventions, as the majority of lifelong habits are formed during adolescence and young adulthood. By identifying these patterns across 204 countries and territories from 1990 to 2019, the study provides a basis for targeted prevention policies.

The researchers used spatiotemporal Gaussian process regression to synthesize data from thousands of surveys. A limitation of this approach is that it relies on the quality and comparability of existing national survey data across diverse regions.

Why it matters: Targeting tobacco prevention during adolescence is a high-impact strategy because most smoking habits are established before age 20.

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