Number of young people smoking daily drops to lowest level in a decade

Eva Osborne

The number of young people aged between 20 and 24 who report being daily smokers has declined to the lowest level in a decade.

Last year, nine per cent of people in that age group reported being daily smokers, the lowest percentage for the 20-24 age group in the period from 2015-2025.

The year with the highest rate of daily smokers in this age group over the past decade was in 2018 at 25.4 per cent, according to figures from the Central Statistics Office (CSO).

The latest data published to the CSO's Children and Young Persons Hub also showed that, in 2024, 70.8 per cent of young people aged 18-24 years reported spending over two hours a day on social media.

36.8 per cent reported that it had a negative impact on their mental health.

Self-perceived general mental health was fair, good, or very good for 82.5 per cent of young people aged 18-24 years in 2024.

In 2024, 78.7 per cent of young people aged 18-24 years said they could get practical help from neighbours fairly easily to very easily, while 21.3 per cent said they could do so with difficulty or with great difficulty.

30 per cent of young people aged 18-24 years said they experienced discrimination in 2024. Of those who experienced discrimination, 79 per cent took no action.