Teenage smoking rates triple as vape crackdown looms

Experts are worried vaping has undone the hard work of anti-smoking campaigns in the early 2000s. Photo: Getty

Teenage smoking rates have increased for the first time in 25 years as the federal government prepares to crack the whip on vape use.

Data from the Department of Health shows the proportion of smokers aged 14 to 17 had fallen to 2.1 per cent in 2018, but had since risen to 6.7 per cent.