First use

  • More than one young person out of six (17.2%) 18 to 19 years old started smoking daily before their 18th birthday.
  • The average age at which 15 to 17-year-old daily smokers (or ex-daily smokers) started smoking daily is 15.0 years.

The age of beginning tobacco use is a determining factor in the evolution of smoking behaviour. An early age of beginning to use is generally correlated with higher levels of nicotine dependence and a greater propensity to continue smoking as an adult[1] (on this subject, see also the section Health Risks Amongst Youth on our page Youth and Smoking).

First use among the youngest subjects

The data regarding the age of first use for 15-year-old students was available in the past from the HBSC[2] and ESPAD[3] studies. This kind of data is no longer available since the ESPAD study in Switzerland was discontinued and questions about the age of first use were dropped from the HBSC. It can be mentioned, however, that in 2007, according to ESPAD, the average age of first smoking for 15-year-old boys and girls who had already smoked at that age was 12.4 years old for boys and 13.0 years old for girls (Source: www.suchtmonitoring.ch[4]).

Many smokers start smoking daily before the age of 20

As was described in the part of our site dealing with the prevalence of smoking in the general population, almost two-third – 65.2% – of all daily smokers questioned in the course of the CoRolAR study (Monitorage Suisse des addictions) in 2016 reported having started smoking daily before the age of 20 (Gmel et al., 2017[5]). This study also shows that 17.2% – more than one in six – of 18 and 19-year-olds were smoking daily before the age of 18, or more than one out two of this age group who were already smoking (Kuendig et al., 2017[6]). Out of the general population over age 15, the proportion of people who used tobacco daily before the age of 18 was 16.8%.

The Monitorage Suisse des addictions also documented the average age of starting to smoke daily in its most recent annual report (Gmel et al., 2017[7]). Calculated on the basis of responses by people who were smoking or had smoked daily in the past, the average age of beginning daily use was estimated at 15.0 years for the 15 to 17-year-old age group, 16.0 years for 18 to 19-year-olds, and 16.7 years for 20 to 24-year-olds. For the 25 to 29-year-old age group, the average was 17.0 years.

[1] P.ex. Ali, Fatma RM; Agaku, Israel T; Sharapova, Saida R; Reimels, Elizabeth A; Homa, David M. Onset of Regular Smoking Before Age 21 and Subsequent Nicotine Dependence and Cessation Behaviour Among US Adult Smokers. Preventing Chronic Disease. 2020 16;17: E06.

[2] https://www.hbsc.ch; accessed 12.02.2022.

[3] http://www.espad.org; accessed 12.02.2022.

[4] https://www.suchtmonitoring.ch/fr/table/516.html; accessed 12.02.2022.

[5] Gmel, Gerhard ; Kuendig, Hervé ; Notari, Luca (2017) : Monitorage suisse des addictions Consommation d’alcool, de tabac et de drogues illégales en Suisse en 2016. Sucht Schweiz. Lausanne. Download.

[6] Kuendig, Hervé; Notari, Luca; Gmel, Gerhard (2017). Le tabagisme chez les 15 à 25 ans en 2016 - Analyse des données du Monitorage suisse des addictions. Lausanne : Addiction Suisse. Download.

[7] Gmel, Gerhard ; Kuendig, Hervé ; Notari, Luca ; Gmel, Christiane (2017): Monitorage suisse des addictions Consommation d’alcool, de tabac et de drogues illégales en Suisse en 2016. Sucht Schweiz. Lausanne. Download.

AT Switzerland, September 2022

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