South Korean Study: E-Cigarette Sales Double in Five Years as Smokers Shift to Novel Tobacco Products

Key Points:

·Traditional cigarette sales are declining, while e-cigarettes are gradually taking over the market. 

·Women and young people are becoming the primary consumers of tobacco products. 

·The use of new tobacco products is leading to an increase in smoking rates among adults. 

·Nicotine substitutes are bringing new regulatory challenges.

According to South Korea's "Yonhap News" on June 12th, in recent years, domestic smokers in South Korea are gradually shifting from traditional cigarettes to HNB and e-cigarettes. Although cigarette sales have decreased by 3.2% in the past five years, the sales of e-cigarettes have nearly doubled. This phenomenon has raised concerns in society about the new trend of tobacco products lowering the smoking threshold and increasing smoking rates among women and adolescents. The government needs to enact corresponding measures to address this issue.

According to a study conducted by the Korean Association for Tobacco Control on behalf of the Ministry of Health and Welfare, cigarette sales in South Korea were approximately 6.4 billion packs in 2018, and are projected to decrease to around 6.2 billion packs by 2023, a decline of 3.2%. Meanwhile, sales of HNB (Heat-Not-Burn) products increased from 65.41 million units to 122.20 million units, representing a growth of 1.9 times.

In particular, there has been a significant increase in the consumption of flavored tobacco. In 2013, flavored tobacco accounted for only 9.8% of total sales, but by 2023, this proportion skyrocketed to 46.7%. Research indicates that new tobacco products with flavoring technology have become a major incentive for young people and women to smoke.

Although the smoking rate among adults in South Korea has decreased over the past 10 years, both male and female smoking rates have increased in 2023. According to data from the Department of Disease Management, the smoking rate among men around the age of 50 has increased from 32.5% in 2022 to 42.1% in 2023, a 9.6 percentage point increase, while women in their twenties have seen an increase from 5.8% to 12.1%, a 6.3 percentage point growth. The analysis of the study suggests that this may be due to a weakening negative perception of tobacco use and the popularity of alternative products.

Research has also found that female smokers purchase more cigarettes each time compared to men. Those in their twenties prefer e-cigarettes, those in their thirties tend to lean towards HNB products, and those aged 60 and above prefer traditional cigarettes.

Researchers point out that different types of new tobacco products have led to complex and dangerous smoking patterns, such as a resurgence of traditional cigarettes in certain populations. Synthetic nicotine and nicotine analogs have also become a new source of problems, as they are not extracted from tobacco leaves, thus bypassing current tobacco laws regulating and taxing. Researchers suggest that these nicotine analogs may be more addictive than traditional nicotine, and therefore measures need to be in place to prevent their entry into the market through policies.