Tobacco use among adolescents (Indicator 9)

This indicator is part of Target (5): 30 per cent reduction in tobacco use from 2010 to 2025.

The indicator covers current daily or non-daily use of tobacco. Tobacco use mainly consists of smoking and the use of snus. We present data on the proportion of adolescents who smoke and the proportion who use snus or smoke. 

From 1990 to 2020, current smoking (daily or non-daily) fell from 34 per cent to 18 per cent among men, and from 38 cent to 16 per cent among women in the 16-19 age group. For both genders, there was a period from 1990 to 2000 during which the decline halted.

The decline in smoking from the 1990s coincided with a rise in the use of snus among both genders. However, among young men, the increase in current snus use stopped around 2010 at around 30 per cent and current use of snus declined from 2010 to 2024. Among women the increase in regular use of snus stopped around 2015 and since then, the percentage of current snus users has been stable around 18 per cent.

Despite the rise in the use of snus, there has been a net decline in the total proportion of individuals who responded that they currently smoked or used snus from the millennium to 2024. 

When expressed as a linear trend, the percentage of current smokers among men aged 16 to 19 increased 19 per cent from 2010 to 2024. The corresponding increase among women was 21 per cent. However, these differences were not significant (p>0.05). In contrast, the percentage of daily smokers in this age group declined 78 per cent among men and 92 per cent among women from 2010 to 2024 (from about 5 per cent to about 1 per cent, p<0.05). At the same time, the percentage who smoked occasionally increased from around 10 to over 20 per cent among young men, and from under 8 to over 15 per cent among young women from 2010 to 2024 (a 64 and 98 per cent increase, p<0.05).

Using the same approach, the percentage of current snus users among men aged 16-19 declined 13 per cent from 2010 to 2024. Among women there was no change in current snus use in this period. Current tobacco use (snus and cigarettes combined) among young men declined 9 per cent, and current tobacco use among young women increased 4 per cent in the period 2010-2024. However, none of these changes were statistically significant (p>0.05).  

The data source for this indicator is the Norwegian Survey of Smoking Habits.

A description and definitions follow below.

Description 

The Norwegian Survey of Smoking Habits is a telephone-based, nationwide survey of tobacco use (questions about smoking and snus) among individuals aged 16-79, and undertaken by Statistics Norway on behalf of the Norwegian Institute of Public Health. The survey has been conducted annually since 1973 and the response rate has been around 60 per cent in recent years, around 70 per cent in the 1990s and around 90 per cent in the 1970s. From and including 1985, questions about snus have also been asked. 

From 1973 until 1991 the survey was conducted as a supplementary part of the Labour Force Survey. During this period, around 2500 people participated annually. From 1992 until 2016, the survey formed part of Statistics Norway’s Omnibus Survey and Travel Survey. During this period, 2000 people were invited to participate each quarter, with the exception of the second and last quarter of 2015 when 3000 people were invited. The survey was not conducted from the first and third quarter of 1992, the first to the third quarter of 1994, in the third quarter of 1998 and the second quarter of 2000. In 2024, the survey was only conducted in the 2. quarter, but with a larger sample (gross sample 8000)

Links:

• Web report: Tobacco in Norway (in Norwegian) 
• Norwegian Survey of Alcohol, Tobacco and Drugs 2024 (ssb.no) (in Norwegian) 
• Norwegian Survey of Smoking Habits (Travel survey, ssb.no) 

Numerator

• The proportion of adolescents in the 16-19 age range who responded that they smoke and/or use snus on a daily or non-daily basis, as percentage.

Years are stated in five-year groups (1990-1994, 1995-1999, … 2020-2024)

In calculating the figures, changes in the age distribution of the population over time are taken into account in that the figures are standardised to the age distribution of the corresponding population of Norway as of 1 January 2012. 

Interpretation and sources of error

Combining daily use and non-daily use entails different consequences for different groups. For young men, non-daily smoking and non-daily snus use have remained relatively stable over time. For women, non-daily smoking is declining over time, while non-daily use of snus is increasing. The result is that there is less of a decline in smoking among women and the use of snus is increasing more over time when we look at regular use compared with daily use.

Data quality

The quality of the data is deemed to be good, although the response rate has declined over time. In recent years, Statistics Norway has calculated weightings to adjust for deviations from the sample. The use of weightings in the generation of tables has very little effect on the results. However, the sample size will be too small to provide useful responses to questions requiring the sample to be broken down into smaller parts, for example one-year age groups or counties.

Indicator 10. Prevalence of current tobacco use among adolescents.