Smoking Statistics
Cigarette smoking remains the leading preventable cause of death in the United States, accounting for approximately one out of every five deaths (440,000 people) each year. More deaths are caused by tobacco use than by human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), illegal drug use, alcohol use, motor vehicle injuries, suicides, and murder combined.
National cigarette smoking statistics illustrate the magnitude of the smoking challenge:
- An estimated 23% of all adult Americans (46 million people) smoke cigarettes.
- Cigarette smoking estimates by age are 29% for those 18–24 years, 26% for those 25–44 years, 23% for those 45–64 years, and only 9% for those 65 years or older.
- Cigarette smoking is more common among men (25%) than women (20%).
- Cigarette smoking is more common among adults who live below the poverty level (33%) than other Americans (22%).
- Cigarette smoking estimates are higher for adults with a General Education Development diploma (42%) or 9-11 years of education (34%), compared to adults with an undergraduate college degree (12%) or a graduate college degree (7%).
- Cigarette smoking kills an estimated 264,000 men and 178,000 women in the United States each year.
- Of the estimated 440,000 deaths attributed to smoking every year, 35,000 are from exposure to secondhand smoke.
- On average, adults who smoke cigarettes die 13 to 14 years earlier than nonsmokers.
- Based on current cigarette smoking patterns, an estimated 25 million Americans alive today will die prematurely from smoking-related illnesses - including 5 million people younger than age 18.
Information courtesy of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention