Starting to smoke

  • More than one in six 18 to 19-year-olds (17.2%) had begun smoking daily before the age of 18.
  • Among current or former daily smokers aged 15-17, the average age at which daily smoking began is 15.0 years.

The age at which smoking begins is a key factor in how smoking behaviour develops. Starting at an early age is generally associated with higher levels of nicotine dependence and a greater likelihood of continuing to smoke in adulthood[1] (see also the section Health consequences for young people on our Young people and smoking page).

Starting to smoke among younger adolescents

Data on the age at which 15-year-old school pupils started smoking were previously available from the HBSC[2] and ESPAD[3] surveys. Such data are no longer available following the discontinuation of ESPAD in Switzerland and the removal of questions on age at first use from the HBSC study. However, according to ESPAD, in 2007 the average age at which 15-year-olds who had already used tobacco first smoked a cigarette was 12.4 years among boys and 13 years among girls (source: www.suchtmonitoring.ch[4]).

Most people who smoke daily start before the age of 20

As described in the section of our website on smoking in the general population, almost two thirds (65.2%) of all daily smokers surveyed in the 2016 CoRolAR study (Swiss Addiction Monitoring) reported that they had begun smoking daily before the age of 20 (Gmel et al., 2017[5]). The survey also found that 17.2% — more than one in six — of all 18 to 19-year-olds had smoked daily before turning 18. This represented more than half of those in this age group who had ever smoked (Kuendig et al., 2017[6]). Across the population aged 15 and over, 16.8% had smoked tobacco daily before the age of 18.

[1] P.ex. Ali, Fatma RM; Agaku, Israel T; Sharapova, Saida R; Reimels, Elizabeth A; Homa, David M. Onset of Regular Smoking Before Age 21 and Subsequent Nicotine Dependence and Cessation Behavior Among US Adult Smokers. Preventing Chronic Disease. 2020 16;17: E06.

[2] https://www.hbsc.ch; accessed on 30.04.2026.

[3] http://www.espad.org; accessed on 30.04.2026.

[4] https://www.suchtmonitoring.ch/fr/table/516.html; accessed on 30.04.2026.

[5] Gmel, Gerhard ; Kuendig, Hervé ; Notari, Luca (2017) : Monitorage suisse des addictions Consommation d’alcool, de tabac et de drogues illégales en Suisse en 2016. Sucht Schweiz. Lausanne. Download.

[6] Kuendig, Hervé; Notari, Luca; Gmel, Gerhard (2017). Le tabagisme chez les 15 à 25 ans en 2016 - Analyse des données du Monitorage suisse des addictions. Lausanne : Addiction Suisse. Download.

AT Switzerland, April 2026

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