Israel Smoker Rate Hits Highest Level in About 20 Years, Health Ministry Says

A Health Ministry report shows a roughly 20-year peak in smoking in Israel, with 23.1% of the adult population using cigarettes. The report also shows an increase in e-cigarette use among teenagers, according to the 2025 smoking report published today (Monday).

The report presents data on smoking in Israel, along with steps the ministry promoted over the past year in an effort to reduce smoking rates in the country. According to the figures, for the first time, the share of teenagers who have tried e-cigarettes is higher than the share who have tried regular cigarettes, with 20% of students in Israel saying they have tried an e-cigarette, compared with about 19% who have tried regular cigarettes. In addition, about 17% of students said they had smoked an e-cigarette at least once in the past month.

The report also said that 23.1% of Israel's adult population smokes, while the smoking rate among adult Arab men stands at 46.2%, twice the rate in the overall population. In 2022, smoking was attributed to about 12,386 deaths in Israel, including 894 from secondhand smoke. On secondhand smoke as well, the report says 28.9% of the Jewish population and 48.5% of the Arab population are exposed to involuntary smoking.

The Health Ministry said in the report that starting in August 2026, graphic warnings will be added to the existing textual warnings on a range of smoking products, similar to many countries around the world. This will be in addition to promoting taxation and oversight measures on smoking products and nicotine-containing products, strengthening enforcement in local authorities, and expanding access to quitting services through health funds and the National Smoking Cessation Hotline.

Health Minister Chaim Katz said, "The data in the report require us to continue acting decisively to prevent exposure of children and teenagers to smoking products, while strengthening prevention, enforcement and public education measures."

Health Ministry Director-General Moshe Bar Siman Tov said, "At a time when e-cigarette use among young people is rising alarmingly and the age of first exposure to smoking and nicotine products continues to fall, significant legislative measures initiated by the Health Ministry to protect the public still are not advancing in the Finance Committee. These are professional steps based on scientific knowledge and international experience, designed to reduce addiction, illness and death. Delaying them harms the state's ability to protect public health."