How Many Israelis Smoke? About 20% of Adults in 2024
About 20% of Israeli adults smoked in 2024, one in five, on the Ministry of Health’s own survey figures, a rate unchanged in trend since 2016.
About 20% of Israeli adults smoked in 2024, one in five, on the Ministry of Health’s own survey figures in its statutory smoking report to the Knesset, published in June 2025. The Ministry states the rate as a rounded share (“about 20%”), and the report carries confidence intervals for it. The 2024 rate is similar to those the Ministry reported for 2018, 2019 and 2023, and lower than in 2016.
| Figure | What it counts | Period |
|---|---|---|
| About 20% | Adults who smoke, a rounded survey share | 2024 |
| One in five | Adults who smoke, in the minister’s foreword | 2024 |
| About 30% above | Israel’s adult rate against the world average, the Ministry’s comparison | Stated in the 2024 report |
| 50% below | Israel’s pace of quitting against the OECD average, the Ministry’s comparison | Stated in the 2024 report |
| Close to 15% | Pupils in grades 5 to 12 who used a smoking product in the previous 30 days | Stated in the 2024 report |
| 53% and 13% | Arab and Jewish respondents aged 12 to 15 who had tried smoking, the Ministry’s online youth survey | November 2024 |
| 54% and 80% | Haredi high-school yeshiva students and Haredi dropout-youth high-school students who tried smoking | The Ministry’s first Haredi youth survey |
Source: Ministry of Health, The Minister of Health’s Report on Smoking in Israel, 2024, published June 2025. Every figure is the Ministry’s own, from its own surveys.
About 20% of Israeli adults smoked in 2024
The Ministry of Health puts the adult smoking rate for 2024 at about 20%, on its own survey data. The minister’s foreword to the report states it in words: “אחד מכל חמישה מבוגרים מעשן”, one in five adults smokes.
- The figure is a share of adults, not a count of people.
- It is rounded (“about 20%”) and published with confidence intervals.
- It comes from the Ministry’s annual report, submitted to the Knesset under the law on reporting the health harms of smoking.
Multiplying the 20% by a population figure from another publication produces a number the Ministry did not print.
The 2024 rate matches 2018, 2019 and 2023, below 2016
The Ministry of Health found that the adult rate in 2024 remained similar to the rates it reported for 2023, 2019 and 2018, about 20%, on its own survey series. The same chapter records the 2024 rate as lower than in 2016, and finds no significant change in trend since 2016.
| Year | Adult smoking rate, as the Ministry states it |
|---|---|
| 2016 | Higher than in 2024 |
| 2018 | About 20% |
| 2019 | About 20% |
| 2023 | About 20% |
| 2024 | About 20% |
Source: Ministry of Health, 2024 smoking report, chapter on adult rates.
The Ministry puts Israel’s rate about 30% above the world’s
The Minister of Health states in the report’s foreword that Israel’s adult smoking rate is about 30% above the world average. Both international comparisons below are the Ministry’s own, made in the foreword.
- Adult smoking rate: about 30% above the world average.
- Pace of quitting: 50% below the OECD average.
The 30% is the size of a gap relative to the world average. It is not a smoking rate, and it is not 30 percentage points.
Nearly 15% of grades 5 to 12 used a smoking product
The Ministry of Health reports that close to 15% of students in grades 5 to 12 used a smoking product in the previous 30 days, on its own survey figures. “Smoking product” is the Ministry’s term.
- Who is counted: pupils in grades 5 to 12.
- What is counted: any use of a smoking product in the previous 30 days.
- How it relates to the adult rate: it is a separate survey and a separate measure, so it is not set against the 20%.
At ages 12 to 15, 53% of Arab and 13% of Jewish respondents had tried smoking
The Ministry of Health ran its own online survey of 827 young people aged 12 to 17 in November 2024, and found that about 36% had tried smoking. At ages 12 to 15, 53% of Arab and 13% of Jewish respondents had tried it; at ages 16 to 17, 61% and 31%.
| Respondents | Ages | Share who had tried smoking |
|---|---|---|
| Arab | 12 to 15 | 53% |
| Jewish | 12 to 15 | 13% |
| Arab | 16 to 17 | 61% |
| Jewish | 16 to 17 | 31% |
| All respondents | 12 to 17 | About 36% |
Source: Ministry of Health, 2024 smoking report, chapter 2, section 4. Online survey, November 2024, 501 respondents in the Jewish population and 327 in the Arab population.
These are rates of trying smoking among young people, not current smoking and not adult rates.
The first Haredi youth survey found 80% in dropout-youth schools had tried
The Ministry of Health’s first survey among Haredi youth, its own, recorded rates of trying smoking in two types of school.
- High schools for Haredi dropout youth: 80% of students reported trying smoking.
- Haredi high-school yeshivas: 54% of students reported trying smoking.
- The survey is separate from the November 2024 online youth survey and is not set against it.
Which of these figures may not be combined?
None of the survey figures on this page may be added together or averaged, because the Ministry of Health published them from separate surveys with their own samples and years.
- The adult 20% is current smoking among adults. The youth 15% is use in the previous 30 days by pupils in grades 5 to 12.
- The 53%, 13%, 61%, 31%, 54% and 80% are rates of trying smoking among young people, from two separate youth surveys, not current smoking.
- The report gives 827 respondents to the November 2024 survey, and 501 and 327 by population group, which sum to 828.
- The 30% and 50% are relative comparisons, not rates.
- The 20% is rounded, and stays “about 20%”.
Questions readers ask
Who publishes Israel’s official smoking figures?
The Ministry of Health publishes an annual report on smoking, submitted to the Knesset under the law on reporting the health harms of smoking. The 2024 edition was published in June 2025.
Is smoking in Israel falling?
The Ministry of Health found no significant change in the adult smoking trend since 2016. It records the 2024 rate as lower than in 2016 and similar to 2018, 2019 and 2023.
Is the 20% an exact figure?
The Ministry of Health states it as “about 20%”, a rounded survey share. The report carries confidence intervals for it.
How does Israel’s smoking rate compare with the world?
The Ministry of Health puts Israel’s adult rate about 30% above the world average, in the minister’s foreword to the 2024 report.
How quickly do Israelis quit smoking?
The Ministry of Health states that quitting in Israel proceeds at a pace 50% below the OECD average. The comparison is the Ministry’s own.
How many Israeli school pupils smoke?
The Ministry of Health reports that close to 15% of students in grades 5 to 12 used a smoking product in the previous 30 days.
Can the youth figure be compared with the adult rate?
The Ministry of Health measured them in separate surveys. One counts use in the previous 30 days among pupils, the other current smoking among adults, so the two are not one series.
Are rates of trying smoking higher among Arab young people?
The Ministry of Health’s November 2024 online youth survey found that 53% of Arab and 13% of Jewish respondents aged 12 to 15 had tried smoking, and 61% and 31% at ages 16 to 17. These are rates of trying smoking among young people, not adult smoking rates.
How many Haredi young people have tried smoking?
The Ministry of Health’s first survey among Haredi youth recorded 54% of students in Haredi high-school yeshivas and 80% in high schools for Haredi dropout youth reporting trying smoking.
Can the 20% be turned into a number of smokers?
The Ministry of Health states the adult figure as a share. A head count built by multiplying it by a population figure from another publication is not a number the Ministry printed.
Is there a newer report than the 2024 one?
The Ministry of Health’s report for 2024, published in June 2025, was the most recent on gov.il as at 29 September 2026.
Sources
- Ministry of Health, 2025. The Minister of Health’s Report on Smoking in Israel, 2024 (דו״ח שר הבריאות על העישון בישראל 2024). Statutory annual report submitted to the Knesset, published June 2025, 100 pages, Hebrew. https://www.gov.il/BlobFolder/reports/smoking-2024/he/files_publications_smoking_prevention_smoking_2024.pdf; announcement at https://www.gov.il/he/pages/03062025-01. Official or primary record.
