NYTS is an annual school-based, self-administered survey of U.S. middle (grades 6–8) and high school (grades 9–12) students conducted 22 Jan. to 22 May 2024. Findings showed there was a significant drop in the number of U.S. middle and high school students who reported current (past 30 days) e-cigarette use – a decrease from 2.13 million (7.7 per cent) youth in 2023 to 1.63 million (5.9 per cent) youth in 2024. This decline was largely driven by reduced e-cigarette use among high schoolers (1.56 million to 1.21 million), with no statistically significant change in current e-cigarette use among middle school students within the past year. The number of youth who used e-cigarettes in 2024 is approximately one-third of what it was at its peak in 2019, when over five million youth reported current e-cigarette use.
“The continued decline in e-cigarette use among our nation’s youth is a monumental public health win,” said Brian King, Ph.D., M.P.H., director of the FDA’s Center for Tobacco Products. “This progress is a testament to the relentless efforts by the FDA, CDC and others, particularly over the past half decade. But we can’t rest on our laurels, as there’s still more work to do to further reduce youth e-cigarette use.”
Among youth who currently used e-cigarettes, 26.3 per cent reported using e-cigarettes daily. The vast majority of youth who currently used e-cigarettes used flavoured products (87.6 per cent), with fruit (62.8 per cent), candy (33.3 per cent) and mint (25.1 per cent) being the top three most commonly used flavours. Disposable e-cigarette products were the most common product type used; however, the most popular brands included both disposable and cartridge-based products. Among youth who currently used e-cigarettes, the most commonly reported brands were Elf Bar (36.1 per cent), Breeze (19.9 per cent), Mr. Fog (15.8 per cent), Vuse (13.7 per cent) and JUUL (12.6 per cent).
Over the past year, a substantive drop occurred in youth reporting use of e-cigarette products under the Elf Bar brand – from 56.7 per cent in 2023 to 36.1 per cent in 2024. Elf Bar is not authorized by the FDA and has been the subject of focused compliance and enforcement actions by the agency since early 2023, including more than 1,000 warning letters and 240 civil money penalties to retailers and others in the supply chain.