Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/1544874
70 tobaccoasia Issue 3, 2026 May / June Staff Report The 2025 National Youth Tobacco Survey (NYTS) does not mark a dramatic break from prior years. Instead, it sharpens an existing trajectory: youth nicotine use in the United States continues to de- cline across most product categories, with e-cigarettes still leading but steadily losing ground. What distinguishes the 2025 cycle lies less in the direction of the data and more in its context—how the data emerged, how it was communicated, and what it reveals about a ma- turing, diversifying nicotine market. For industry stakeholders, the 2025 NYTS provides a clearer, more current snapshot than earlier discussions anchored in 2024 re- sults. The numbers show contraction across nearly every category, incremental shifts in product mix, and continued structural change in how young consumers engage with nicotine. A broad-based decline continues The most notable takeaway from the 2025 NYTS data involves consistency. Nearly every major product category recorded either a decline or stabilization at low levels. According to reported figures derived from the FDA dataset, overall youth tobacco use continued its downward trend for a third consecutive year, falling to 7.5%—the lowest level recorded since annual tracking began in 2011. This marks a significant decline from the peak of 23.3% reported in 2019. NYTS 2025: What the Data Shows Combustible cigarette use among US youth remained largely unchanged, reinforcing that they no longer serve as a primary entry point for young consumers. Credit: Freestocks.org, Pexels. E-cigarette use—still the dominant catego- ry—fell again in 2025. Prevalence dropped from 5.9% in 2024 to approximately 5.2% in 2025. This decline follows several years of steady reduction from peak levels earlier in the decade. Other categories showed similar movement. Smokeless tobacco use declined from 1.2% to 0.6%, while heated tobacco products fell slightly from 0.8% to 0.7%. Nicotine pouches also edged down marginally, from 1.8% to 1.7%. The consistency of these declines matters. It indicates that the reduction in youth tobacco use is not focused on a single product category. Instead, it reflects a broader shift in behavior. Cigarettes: a floor, not a rebound Combustible cigarette use remained effectively un- changed in 2025, holding at approximately 1.4%. That figure places cigarettes at or near the low- est level ever recorded by the survey. It also sug- gests that cigarette use among youth has reached a structural floor rather than experiencing cyclical fluctuations. Earlier declines have not reversed, and no evidence suggests a resurgence. This re- inforces findings across previous NYTS reports: combustible products no longer function as a pri- mary entry point for younger consumers. Instead, first-use product among youth is overwhelmingly non-combustible, particularly e-cigarettes