Alternative forms of smoking double as less smokers try to quit

“The use of heated tobacco products has nearly doubled since records began in 2019, even as overall tobacco use has not declined with fewer smokers attempting to quit. The findings, released by the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) on World No Tobacco Day on Sunday, show that e-cigarettes have partially replaced conventional cigarettes without reducing overall tobacco use. The agency based its report on last year's annual Community Health Survey, which tracks the health behaviors of approximately 230,000 adults aged 19 and older nationwide. The smoking rate for conventional cigarettes stood at 17.9 percent last year, down 1 percentage point from 2024, while usage of heated tobacco products rose 0.3 percentage points to 6.3 percent and liquid e-cigarettes climbed 0.5 percentage points to 4.5 percent. Since records began in 2019, the heated tobacco product usage rate has nearly doubled from 3.3 percent, while liquid e-cigarette usage surged 73.1 percent from 2.6 percent. The quit attempt rate fell from 46.8 percent in 2020 to 40.6 percent last year. Of overall tobacco produ

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