No One Even Says "This Time for Real"... Smoking Cessation Resolutions Hit 20-Year Low

Smokers Unmoved Even in the New Year
Only 1 in 8 Plans to Quit Within a Month

The proportion of smokers who have resolved to quit smoking soon has dropped to its lowest level in 20 years.

According to the "2024 National Health Statistics" released by the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency on January 11, only 12.7% of current smokers aged 19 or older (based on conventional cigarette use) said they planned to quit within a month. This figure is 0.4 percentage points lower than the previous year's 13.1%, marking the lowest level in nearly two decades since it reached 11.0% in 2005.

The rate of smokers planning to quit within one month has continued to decline for nine years since it peaked at 25.5% in 2015, when the price of cigarettes was raised from 2,500 won to 4,500 won. Cigarette prices have remained at 4,500 won for over a decade since 2015. Considering inflation, the real price of cigarettes has effectively decreased.

By gender, the proportion of male smokers planning to quit within a month dropped by 1.1 percentage points to 12.4% in 2023, while the rate among female smokers rose by 4.3 percentage points to 15.0% compared to the previous year's 10.7%. By age group, those in their 30s recorded the lowest rate at 9.4%, falling into single digits for the first time since 2001 (7.7%). This was followed by those in their 40s (11.2%), 60s (13.2%), and 50s (14.4%). The rate among those aged 19 to 29 was the highest at 16.3% across all age groups. This contrasts sharply with the situation 20 years ago in 2005, when the quit intention rates among those in their 30s (12.0%) and 40s (12.8%) were higher than those among people aged 19 to 29 (10.0%) or those in their 50s (10.3%).

By income level, the 2024 quit intention rate within one month among smokers in the lowest income group was 7.9%, less than half the rate among those in the highest income group (16.5%).

Among current smokers, 47.8% said they had actually attempted to quit for at least 24 hours in the past year, a slight decrease from 48.1% the previous year. The quit attempt rate among women was 55.6%, rising by more than 10 percentage points compared to the COVID-19 period in 2021 (45.2%) and 2022 (40.8%), returning to pre-pandemic levels. However, the rate among men was 46.7%, similar to the levels recorded in 2021 (46.0%) and 2022 (46.6%).