French tobacconists are seeing fewer customers. Legal tobacco sales recorded a fresh decline in 2025, dropping 8.2% compared to the previous year, according to figures released by the French Observatory of Drugs and Addictive Tendencies (OFDT) on Wednesday, May 27. The downturn is part of a sharp, long-term trend, averaging a 7.1% annual decrease since 2017.
Historic Low in Daily Smoking
The data confirms a broad retreat of smoking across the country. In 2024, fewer than one in five adults aged 18 to 75 reported smoking daily, marking “the lowest prevalence ever recorded since 2000,” the OFDT noted. This generational shift is even more dramatic among adolescents. The proportion of high school students who smoke every day has collapsed from 30.8% in 2010 to just 5.6% in 2024.
Despite this public health victory, the landscape is shifting rather than simply shrinking. While traditional cigarette sales dwindle, other products are gaining ground. Sales of “other tobacco products,” including shisha tobacco, pipe tobacco, and blunt wraps, jumped 5.8% year-on-year. Their market share has nearly tripled, climbing from 3% in 2017 to 8% last year.
The Vaping Boom and Its Risks
The most significant surge is in electronic cigarette use. Although not tracked with the same precision as tobacco sales, vaping has been “in almost continuous increase since 2017,” the OFDT report states. Currently, 6.1% of adults aged 18-75 report daily e-cigarette use.
The acceleration is most pronounced among teenagers. “In 2024, 4% of high school students vaped exclusively on a daily basis, compared to 0.8% in 2022,” the highlighted. While science acknowledges the potential benefits of vaping as a harm reduction tool for adult smokers who switch completely, the trend among youth raises serious red flags.
The OFDT warns that “scientific data is likely to alert on the potential risk of initiating smoking among young non-smokers who vape.” Specific products like disposable “puffs”—already voted for prohibition in France—are singled out as a potential “gateway to nicotine dependence for non-smokers, and particularly among young people.”
