This is just anectodal evidence, but I feel like more people have started to smoke again during the last ~10 years or so.

A few years ago, aggressive marketing rules were introduced here in Germany which resulted in very disgusting pictures on cigarette boxes displaying the consequences of lung cancer etc.

The thing is, when those rules were introduced, cigarette boxes were still prominently displayed everywhere. You just had them lying around en masse at the counter or checkout in any shop, so even as a non-smoker you always had to see the consequences of destroying your own body when you inhale toxic substances. And during that time, I was rarely seeing people smoking at all. It just got really, really uncool to do it.

Nowadays you don't really see those boxes anymore. You have to ask the lady at the counter for them or you go to one of those neutral-looking vending machines we have on the streets. I'm not sure if this is what causes people to start smoking again, maybe it's also the rise of vaping influencers.

I believe there was a study done 1 or 2 years ago that came to the conclusion that especially younger people have started smoking again. I wonder why? Is it just that typical phase of being different than the older generation?

I would love if people would just go back and stop smoking again. Especially those arseholes that are smoking while waiting at a red light. These people deserve a special kind of hell. The second group is smokers selling stuff on eBay and omitting that detail in the description.