France: Sharp drop in smoking among teenagers, but new challenges ahead

The 2024 results of the ESPAD survey (European School Survey Project on Alcohol and Other Drugs), published by the French Observatory of Drugs and Addictive Trends (OFDT), show a significant drop in tobacco, alcohol and cannabis consumption among 16-year-olds in France.[1]This trend, one of the most marked in Europe, confirms the effectiveness of proactive public policies implemented over the past decade. However, the rise of new nicotine products and the persistent mobilization of lobbies remind us that vigilance must remain essential.

Conducted every four years, the ESPAD survey aims to monitor the risky behaviors of 16-year-olds in Europe, particularly their use of psychoactive substances. The 2024 survey took place between April and June among a representative sample of 113,882 young people surveyed in 37 countries, including 3,376 in France.

A historic decline in smoking

In France, tobacco experimentation and, especially, daily smoking are experiencing an unprecedented decline. In 2024, only one-fifth of 16-year-olds (20 %) reported having smoked a cigarette in their lifetime, compared to an average of 32 % at the European level. The gap with other countries is notable: in Hungary and Slovakia, more than 45 % of 16-year-olds have experimented with tobacco, while in Iceland, only 13 % have.

But it is above all the decline in daily smoking that marks a major step forward. While in 2015, approximately 16% of 16-year-old French people smoked every day, this figure will be reduced to 3.1% in 2024, compared to an average of 7.9% in Europe. France is thus among a dozen countries, mainly in the Nordic countries, where the prevalence is less than 5% at this age. This decline is one of the fastest observed on the continent.

This dynamic is a direct result of proactive public policies implemented over the last decade: regular tax increases leading to an increase in tobacco prices, adoption of plain packaging breaking the promotional and attractive nature of packaging, banning sponsorship preventing the tobacco industry from developing its CSR promotional communication, prevention campaigns and community mobilization during No Tobacco Month, or the development of smoke-free places, etc., all measures, demonstrated as effective by international literature and included in the provisions of the WHO treaty, the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, FCTC, ratified by France.

Previous provisions prohibiting all forms of advertising, which also apply to new tobacco products (heated tobacco), also serve to counter tobacco companies' deployment strategies to promote these new products. All of these policies are thus leading to a real denormalization of tobacco in French society. While it historically constituted a gateway to the consumption of psychoactive substances, tobacco is gradually losing this central place in youthful social circles. In less than a decade, France has gone from being one of the countries most affected by adolescent smoking to one of those with the lowest levels in Europe, placing younger generations in a context of reinforced protection against the risks of addiction.

Alcohol consumption still high

While the decline in tobacco use is particularly marked, alcohol remains the substance most commonly experimented with by 16-year-olds in France. In 2024, nearly seven out of ten adolescents (68 %) reported having already consumed alcohol, a level slightly lower than the European average (73 %) but still high. Girls even appear slightly more likely than boys to have experimented with it (70 % versus 67 %).

Heavy occasional drinking—defined as having at least five drinks on a single occasion—still affected 22% of young French people in the month preceding the survey, compared to an average of around 30% in Europe. While a decline of nearly 10 points has been recorded since 2015, this phenomenon remains a cause for concern due to its impact on the health and safety of adolescents. Alcohol is therefore a major point of vigilance, as it remains perceived as a commonplace practice, despite its proven risks and even though the brains of these young people are still developing.

A dramatic drop in cannabis

Cannabis, long marked by high prevalence in France, is experiencing a particularly sharp decline. Experimentation among 16-year-olds fell from 31% in 2015 to 8.4% in 2024, a threefold decrease in ten years. Use during the month preceding the survey followed the same trend, falling from 17% to 4.3%. These results now place France in the third of European countries with the lowest cannabis consumption, an unprecedented situation given its past position among the most affected countries.

This dynamic is probably linked to the denormalization of tobacco, often consumed with cannabis, but also to the prevention efforts carried out concerning this substance in particular. It illustrates how coherent policies on several substances can produce positive cumulative effects on the health behaviors of young people.

Reduced use of other illicit drugs

The use of other illicit drugs (cocaine, MDMA, amphetamines, crack, hallucinogens, etc.) remains marginal but not negligible according to OFDT figures. In 2024, 3.9 % of 16-year-old French adolescents reported having tried them at least once, compared to a European average of 5 %. Cocaine comes first (1.7 %), followed by amphetamines (1.3 %) and MDMA/ecstasy (1.1 %). These levels have fallen significantly in ten years, since in 2015, nearly 7.5 % of adolescents had tried at least one drug other than cannabis.

While these consumption patterns remain in the minority, they nevertheless pose a need for vigilance because they involve substances associated with serious health risks. The observed decline, however, confirms that the downward trend is not limited to tobacco and cannabis, but extends to all psychoactive substances among French adolescents.

New nicotine products and lobbying power: persistent threats

While the decline in adolescent smoking is an undeniable success, it should not mask the emergence of new threats. Electronic cigarettes now occupy a significant place in the consumption of addictive substances among young people. In France, 38% of 16-year-old adolescents report having already used them, a lower level but relatively close to the European average (44% of 16-year-olds). Use in the month preceding the survey concerned 16% of young people, and nearly 6% of young people vape every day. These figures show that, far from disappearing, nicotine addiction is taking on new forms, with a risk of normalization of products presented as less harmful but which maintain a lasting addiction and whose risks tend to be increasingly established.

At the same time, other products such as nicotine pouches are rapidly spreading onto the market, often promoted through attractive marketing campaigns that explicitly target young people. They constitute a gateway to nicotine addiction and threaten to undermine the progress made through public policies.

Behind this diversification of supply lie the well-honed strategies of the tobacco industry, which invests massively in these new products to maintain and develop its market share. The sector also relies on its intermediaries, first and foremost tobacconists, who systematically oppose the most effective public health measures: increases in tobacco taxes, which are particularly effective in preventing the initiation and entry into consumption, expansion of smoke-free areas, bans on the marketing of new addictive products, etc. These actors invoke the defense of their economic interests, but their positions directly contribute to slowing down progress recognized as essential for the health of young people. Similarly, their failure to enforce the ban on sales to minors or the profusion of illicit advertising in their stores associated with the sale of prohibited products targeting young people constitute obstacles to achieving a tobacco-free generation.

This influence of the tobacco lobby, both among manufacturers and third parties such as tobacconists, underscores the need to preserve the independence of public policies in the face of their economic and commercial pressures. The WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control reiterates that the tobacco industry has no place in developing health policies. The results of the ESPAD survey demonstrate that when strong measures are implemented, they produce tangible results. Conversely, giving in to influence strategies would amount to permanently compromising the gains made and exposing a new generation to nicotine addiction in new forms.

©Generation Without Tobacco

AE

[1] Press release, DRUG USE IN EUROPE AT AGE 16, OFDT, published on September 11, 2025, consulted the same day