Vaping Vs Smoking: Annual Deaths, Health Risks, And What The Research Says

Someone in your family says vaping is "basically harmless." Someone else swears it is worse than cigarettes. Both quote a number, and the numbers do not match... so who is right? When it comes to vaping vs smoking deaths, a good place to start is the World Health Organization (WHO). In June 2026, WHO said tobacco kills more than 7 million people every year, and that includes people who never touched a cigarette.

Now for the catch. "Tobacco-related" means much more than cigarettes. It covers cigarettes, cigars, waterpipe, and chewing tobacco, plus secondhand smoke, which is smoke from other people. Vaping has no yearly death total that matches it, and that does not mean the number is zero. It only means nobody has counted vaping in the same way yet.

If you are an adult in Pakistan comparing the 2, you deserve numbers with clear labels. So let us look at what we know, what we do not know, and why these 2 numbers cannot be put side by side like a cricket score... ready to see what the research says?

Vaping Vs Smoking Deaths: What Do The Figures Show?

Before we compare anything, we need to know what each number counts. They are not all measuring the same thing. Some numbers cover every tobacco product, while others cover 1 outbreak in 1 country. For vaping, there is no worldwide count at all. So the table below puts each number next to its label;

Table 1: Death numbers and who each covers. Sources: WHO (2026) and CDC (2020).

Look at row 3 for a moment. "Not known" means researchers do not have a number they trust. That is very different from saying nobody has died. The last row is also its own story. It was a 1-time outbreak in the United States, so it is not a yearly total for vaping. Mixing these rows together is how many wrong headlines are born.

How Many Deaths Does Tobacco Cause Each Year?

According to WHO's June 2026 update, tobacco kills more than 7 million people each year. Over 1.6 million of them are non-smokers who only breathed in someone else's smoke. Think about that for a second... that is millions of families, every single year. WHO also says tobacco harms almost every part of the body, and that no amount of smoke is safe.

Now look at the word "tobacco." WHO counts all kinds of tobacco use. Cigarettes are the biggest part, but cigars, waterpipe, chewing tobacco, and other types are inside that number too. This matters in Pakistan, where cigarettes sit next to shisha and chewing tobacco, so the 7 million number is bigger than cigarettes alone.

Here is another thing to know. This number is a careful estimate, not a head count. Researchers work it out from health records and math models, which is why WHO says "more than" and not 1 exact number. So think of it as a strong, trusted picture of tobacco mortality, and not a list of names.

How Many People Die From Vaping Each Year?

The answer is that nobody has a trusted worldwide yearly number to place next to WHO's tobacco number. We know that sounds like a dodge. But a made-up number would cause more harm than an honest "we do not know yet," and you deserve the honest answer.

3 things get in the way. The 1st is that vaping is fairly new, and the NHS says it has not been around long enough to know the risks of long-term use. The 2nd is that countries record these cases in different ways, so 1 country's numbers do not match another's. The 3rd is that many people who vape also smoke, or used to, and a 2026 FactFind check says this mix makes study results messy.

Pakistan has the same problem, and then some. A Dawn opinion piece from November 2025 said that national numbers on vaping are hard to find, so there is no Pakistan-only vaping death number for us to share. So what does a missing number tell you? That the question is still open. Not counted does not mean not happening.

What Happened During The EVALI Outbreak?

If you have heard that vaping has killed people, this is usually where it comes from. EVALI is a serious lung injury linked to vaping products, and it hit the United States in 2019. CDC reported that as of 18 February 2020, 2,807 people had been sent to hospital or had died across every US state plus Washington DC and 2 territories. Of these, 68 deaths were confirmed in 29 states and DC.

So what went wrong? CDC found that most cases were linked to THC products, which have the part of cannabis that makes people high. Many came from informal sellers. A thickener called vitamin E acetate was strongly tied to the outbreak. In 1 study cited by CDC, it was found in the lungs of 94% of 51 EVALI patients, and in none of the 99 people without EVALI.

Keep the timing in mind, though. The outbreak peaked in September 2019, and CDC stopped counting national cases in February 2020. So 68 is a snapshot, not a yearly number. The people who died had a median age of 49.5, and their ages ranged from 15 to 75. CDC also did not rule out other chemicals, so nobody can say this finding clears every nicotine vape... and calling every case "illicit THC" goes too far the other way.

Smoking And Vaping Expose People To Different Substances

A cigarette burns tobacco, and the burning is where much of the trouble starts. CDC says cigarette smoke is a mix of about 7,000 chemicals. Secondhand smoke carries that mix to everyone standing nearby, which is why WHO says no amount of exposure is safe.

A vape works in a different way. It heats a liquid into a mist instead of burning tobacco, and CDC says this mist usually has fewer harmful chemicals than cigarette smoke. Still, it is not "just water vapor." The same CDC page names nicotine and cancer-causing chemicals, and it also points to tiny bits that go deep into the lungs. Fewer chemicals does not make it safe.

Then there is nicotine, which CDC calls highly addictive and which most vapes contain. Strength and feel change between types of e-liquid, so our guide on how nicotine types differ is a handy read for the product side. And if you already use a device and want to know how it heats the liquid, the beginner's guide to vaping explains the parts, written for adults 18 and over.

Is Vaping Safer Than Smoking? Read The Evidence Carefully

When it comes to vaping health risks, ask 3 health groups and you will hear 3 different tones, even though they start from the same basic facts. The NHS says nicotine vaping is not risk-free but is less harmful than smoking. It points to a 2022 expert review that found vaping has only a small part of smoking's risks in the short and medium term. Notice the careful wording: short and medium term.

The other side sounds firmer. CDC says no tobacco product, e-cigarettes included, is safe, and that scientists are still learning about the long-term effects. WHO's Q&A on e-cigarettes calls them harmful and not safe, while saying it is too early to know the long-term picture. Nobody says the long-term facts are settled, and that is the common ground.

What changes the answer most is how a person uses them. The lower-risk finding is for adults who switch from smoking completely. Someone who vapes and keeps smoking still breathes in smoke, so their risk does not drop much. And for a non-smoker, vaping adds nicotine and mist with nothing to balance it out, which is why the NHS tells non-smokers and children never to vape.

Why A 10-Year Death Comparison Can Mislead

It is tempting to take 1 year of tobacco deaths, multiply it by 10, and set it against vaping's small confirmed count. Please do not. That neat number is not a measured 10-year total, because yearly numbers move and nobody counted each year the same way.

Smoking deaths come from diseases that take decades to appear, so today's numbers reflect habits formed long ago, while vaping has only been popular for a short time. Age and place change the math, and so does how many people use each product. Countries also count deaths in different ways. Even the number of people who vape is hard to know. A comparison that skips all this looks sharp and tells you very little.

Common Myths About Vaping And Smoking Deaths

3 claims keep going around in family chats and comment sections, so let us clear them up 1 by 1;

• "No worldwide count means no deaths": A missing number only means the counting is missing. Vaping deaths are documented, including the 68 confirmed EVALI deaths, and the lack of a yearly worldwide total points to weak data, not zero harm.
• "All vape injuries came from nicotine vapes": Most EVALI cases were linked to THC products and vitamin E acetate, yet CDC did not rule out other causes, so the honest summary is mostly THC and not only THC.
• "7 million means cigarettes only": WHO's number covers all tobacco use and includes secondhand smoke, so it is much wider than cigarettes alone.

Frequently Asked Questions

How Many People Die From Smoking Worldwide Each Year?

WHO estimates that tobacco kills more than 7 million people each year, including over 1.6 million non-smokers who breathe in secondhand smoke (WHO, June 2026). That number covers all tobacco use, not only cigarettes, and it comes from math models, not a count of death certificates.

How Many People Die From Vaping Each Year?

There is no trusted worldwide yearly number. Vaping is new and long-term studies are short, while countries record these cases in different ways, as the NHS notes about long-term facts. That is a limit of the data, not proof of zero deaths, so any site quoting 1 exact worldwide vaping number is making it up.

Did Vaping Cause Any Confirmed Deaths?

Yes. CDC confirmed 68 deaths in the US EVALI outbreak as of 18 February 2020, with 2,807 hospital cases or deaths reported (CDC, 2020). Most cases involved THC products, and the outbreak was a 1-time event in 1 country, not a yearly worldwide number.

Were All EVALI Cases Caused By THC Products?

No. CDC linked most cases to THC products and found vitamin E acetate strongly tied to the outbreak. Still, CDC did not rule out other chemicals, including ones in non-THC products (CDC background), so the fair summary is "mostly THC, not only THC."

Does Vaping Carry The Same Risks As Smoking?

No, they are different, but different does not mean harmless. Cigarette smoke carries about 7,000 chemicals while vape mist usually has fewer; even so, CDC says no tobacco product, e-cigarettes included, is safe, and the NHS says long-term effects are still unknown.

What The Evidence Tells Us

The short version: tobacco kills more than 7 million people a year, according to WHO's June 2026 estimate. Vaping has no matching worldwide total, and its 1 confirmed group of deaths, the 2019 to 2020 EVALI outbreak, has its own cause and story. Both carry risk, and neither number proves the other product safe.

If you smoke and want to quit, WHO notes that counselling and medicine can more than double your chance of quitting, so talk to a qualified healthcare professional before trusting any product's ads. Rules are changing in Pakistan too: a Senate committee approved the Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems (Regulation) Bill in January 2026, so check the current federal and provincial rules. Rockstar Vapor Co, a Pakistan-based vape retailer, published this explainer for adults 18 and over; its contact page handles product-label questions, not medical ones.

This article is for adults aged 18 and over and is for general information, not medical advice. Nicotine is addictive. If you want to stop smoking or vaping, speak with a qualified healthcare professional.