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

Smokers Unmoved by the New Year
Only 1 in 8 Plan to Quit Within a Month

The proportion of smokers who have decided 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 and older (based on conventional cigarettes) 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 been on a steady decline for nine years since it peaked at 25.5% in 2015, when cigarette prices were raised from 2,500 won to 4,500 won. Cigarette prices have remained at 4,500 won for over 10 years since 2015. Considering this, the real price of cigarettes has actually decreased.

By gender, the proportion of male smokers planning to quit within a month dropped by 1.1 percentage points from 13.5% in 2023 to 12.4% in 2024. In contrast, the rate for female smokers rose by 4.3 percentage points from 10.7% to 15.0% over the same period. By age group, those in their 30s recorded the lowest rate at 9.4%, dropping to 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 for those aged 19 to 29 was the highest among all age groups at 16.3%. This is a notable change from 20 years ago, when the 2005 survey showed that smokers in their 30s (12.0%) and 40s (12.8%) had higher quit intentions than those aged 19 to 29 (10.0%) or those in their 50s (10.3%).

By income level, the rate of smokers in the lowest income bracket planning to quit within a month in 2024 was 7.9%, less than half that of smokers in the highest income bracket (16.5%).

Among current smokers, the proportion who actually attempted to quit for more than 24 hours in the past year was 47.8%, 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 quit attempt rate among men was 46.7%, similar to the rates recorded in 2021 (46.0%) and 2022 (46.6%).