WHO Warns 40 Million Children Are Already Addicted — and 160 Countries Have No Nicotine Pouch Rules

At least 40 million children aged 13 to 15 use tobacco products worldwide. Young people's use of e-cigarettes and nicotine pouches is still rising. And 160 countries — the majority of the world — have no specific regulations in place for nicotine pouches at all.

Those are the headline numbers from two major WHO publications released in May 2026: the agency's first-ever global report on nicotine pouches, published on May 15, and a broader World No Tobacco Day statement issued on May 29 ahead of the annual observance on May 31.

"Even as tobacco continues to kill millions of people, major tobacco companies are reinventing their business model, continuing to profit from deadly cigarettes while aggressively pushing flavoured e-cigarettes, nicotine pouches and other nicotine products aimed at hooking the next generation," Dr Etienne Krug, Director of the Department of Health Determinants, Promotion and Prevention at WHO, said in the WHO's official May 29 statement.

The Nicotine Pouch Problem — and Why Regulators Are Behind

Nicotine pouches are small sachets placed between the gum and lip that release nicotine through the lining of the mouth. They contain nicotine, flavourings, sweeteners, and other additives — but no tobacco leaf. That distinction has allowed them to fall through regulatory gaps in most countries, because existing tobacco laws do not cover them.

Retail sales of nicotine pouches reached more than 23 billion units in 2024 — a 50% increase from the previous year, according to UN News. WHO's first global report, *Exposing marketing tactics and strategies driving the growth of nicotine pouches*, found the products are sold in packaging that deliberately mimics sweets or popular candy brands, promoted through social media influencers, music festivals, and youth-oriented digital advertising.

The regulatory situation is stark. Per the WHO May 15 report, 160 countries have no specific regulations for nicotine pouches — meaning a product engineered for addiction is being marketed to adolescents in most of the world with no legal guardrails whatsoever.

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E-Cigarettes: The Regulatory Picture Is Barely Better

The situation for e-cigarettes — further along in regulatory scrutiny but still far from comprehensive — reflects the same pattern of industry outpacing government.

According to WHO's broader tobacco data, 88 countries have no minimum age at which e-cigarettes can be purchased, and 74 countries have no regulations for e-cigarettes at all. In the United States, the FDA's 2024 Annual National Youth Tobacco Survey found that 1 in 4 middle and high school students who reported e-cigarette use in the past 30 days used them daily, per the CDC Foundation.

Separately, data from the CDC Foundation's Tobacco Epidemic Evaluation Network (TEEN+) Study found that on days they vape, 37.7% of youth aged 13–17 and 43.1% of young adults aged 18–27 pick up their e-cigarette more than 10 times per day.

The quit rate numbers reveal how deeply the dependence runs. The share of daily middle and high school e-cigarette users who attempted to quit but were unable to rose from 28.2% to 53% between 2020 and 2024, per Truth Initiative. From February 2020 to June 2024, the total amount of nicotine sold in e-cigarettes surged by 249% — even as unit sales declined — because manufacturers steadily increased nicotine concentrations while making devices larger.

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What WHO Is Asking Governments to Do

WHO's May 2026 campaign — titled "Unmasking the Appeal: Countering Tobacco and Nicotine Addiction" — sets out a specific regulatory agenda rather than a general call to action.

For nicotine pouches, the Euronews summary of the WHO report identified five specific measures: applying regulations uniformly to all nicotine pouch products regardless of nicotine form; banning flavours; prohibiting all forms of advertisement and promotion including digital and social media; enforcing minimum age laws with robust age verification; and prohibiting online sales entirely.

For e-cigarettes, WHO's position — maintained across multiple reports — is that countries banning e-cigarette sales should strengthen enforcement, while countries permitting sales should ban all flavours, limit nicotine concentration, and apply dedicated taxation.

The WHO European Region was singled out for particular concern. Approximately 11.6% of 13–15-year-olds in Europe — around 4 million adolescents — currently use tobacco, with the region holding both the highest global prevalence of adolescent cigarette smoking (8.4%) and the highest rate of smoking among adolescent girls (8.7%), according to WHO Europe.

The central tension WHO's reports expose is a structural one: tobacco and nicotine products are evolving faster than regulatory frameworks. A flavour ban on cigarettes does not cover nicotine pouches. An e-cigarette age restriction does not cover a product classified differently. The industry has been effective at exploiting that definitional gap — and WHO's May 2026 publications are the most explicit attempt yet to close it through unified, product-neutral regulation.

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Key Takeaways

• At least 40 million children aged 13–15 use tobacco products globally, per WHO's May 29, 2026 statement.
• 160 countries have no specific regulations for nicotine pouches — the product category growing fastest among young people.
• Nicotine pouch retail sales hit 23 billion+ units in 2024, a 50% jump from the prior year.
• 1 in 4 US middle and high school daily e-cigarette users vape daily; 37.7% of 13–17 year-olds vape more than 10 times per day.
• Nicotine sold in US e-cigarettes surged 249% from 2020–2024, driven by concentration increases — not unit growth.
• WHO recommends: ban flavours, prohibit advertising including social media, enforce age minimums, ban online sales, apply uniform regulations across all nicotine product types.

Sources

• WHO — Urges governments to protect young people from addiction to tobacco and nicotine products
• WHO — First global report on nicotine pouches: warns brands targeting youth
• UN News — WHO sounds alarm over nicotine pouches targeting young people
• Euronews — Nicotine pouches are being aggressively marketed to young people, WHO report warns
• CDC Foundation — World No Tobacco Day 2026: Protecting Young People from Nicotine Addiction
• Truth Initiative — Report Finds Rapidly Evolving Nicotine Market Outpacing Regulation
• PAHO — Calls for stronger action to protect youth from tobacco and nicotine addiction

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