United States: 11% of adults are smokers, a historically low rate

A Gallup survey[1] found that in 2024, 11,130 adults over the age of 18 reported smoking manufactured cigarettes in the past week, consistent with the historically low smoking rate already seen in 2022 (the rate was 12,130 in 2023) in the United States. In 2024, 7,130 adults over the age of 18 reported vaping in the past week.

Gallup has been measuring smoking rates in the United States for more than eight decades. In the first survey in 1944, 41,000 U.S. adults reported smoking. The survey was conducted by telephone in July 2024 among a sample of 1,000 U.S. adults ages 18 and older living in the 50 states and the District of Columbia.

Young adults consume less tobacco but more vaping products

Over the past three years, 61% of adults under age 30 reported smoking cigarettes in the past week, compared with 35% in surveys conducted from 2001 to 2003. Smoking rates were 13% among those aged 30 to 49, 18% among those aged 50 to 64, and 9% among those aged 65 and older. These data are consistent with the results of the most recent investigation on smoking from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)[2].

While young adults are not very frequent cigarette smokers, they are more likely to use e-cigarettes; thus, between 2022 and 2024, approximately 18% of adults under 30 reported having used e-cigarettes in the past week, with this percentage decreasing with age, to 1% among people aged 65 and over.

A different perception of the harmfulness of tobacco products and nicotine

While 79% of the adults surveyed perceive tobacco cigarettes as extremely harmful to health, only 45% consider pipes and cigars as extremely harmful to health. Finally, while 57% of them consider vaping products as very harmful to health, 34% think that nicotine pouches have a significant negative impact on health.

While 80% of non-smoking Americans think cigarettes are very harmful, only 58% of smokers do.

Disparities between population groups

According to the CDC[3], the decline in tobacco consumption in recent years is still accompanied by large disparities in consumption between different population categories in the United States, depending on age, gender, origins, income levels, sexual orientations, etc. These are explained in particular by the targeted marketing of the tobacco industry which contributes to normalizing consumption among certain populations.

Thus, according to the Gallup survey, while 31.31% of adults with a university degree are smokers, 15.1% of those without a degree are smokers. Current smoking is higher among people in the lower socioeconomic category (18.31% of adults) compared to 6.71% of adults in the upper economic class.

Nearly 15% of adults who identified as American Indian or Alaska Native were regular smokers, compared with 12.9% of adults identifying as white, 11.7% among African Americans, just under 8% among Hispanic Americans, and 5.4% among those of Asian descent.

More than 15% of people from the LGBT+ community report regularly using tobacco products compared to 11% of those identifying as heterosexual. In 2023, a report published by the Truth Initiative organization[4] showed significant geographic disparities in smoking prevalence, with particularly high consumption in 12 contiguous states in the Midwest and South, dubbed the "Tobacco Nation," where prevalence among adults aged 18 and older is 14.% compared to 8.9% in the Western states (California, Oregon, Washington).

A tobacco lobby that remains very present at the state and federal level

Tobacco control organizations are warning of a significant increase in federal tobacco industry spending in 2023 and 2024 as it attempts to curb public health and tobacco control policies. According to Action on Smoking and Health (ASH), the tobacco industry had 262 federally registered lobbyists in 2023, 75% of whom were former federal officials who could have extensive access to influential people in the House of Representatives, the Senate, and other federal agencies. ASH says the delay in implementing the menthol cigarette ban is the result of heavy tobacco industry interference, particularly at the federal level in Washington.

At the state level, in 2024, a total of 1,027 lobbyists or lobbying firms acting for the tobacco industry were identified, an increase of 10.7% from 2023, with states with the highest smoking rates (Midwest and South) having a higher number of lobbyists reported.[5].

©Generation Without Tobacco

AE

[1] Jeffrey M. Jones, Cigarette Smoking Rate in US Ties 80-Year Low, Gallup, published August 13, 2024, accessed August 14, 2024

[2] Current Cigarette Smoking Among Adults in the United States, CDC, published May 4, 2023, accessed August 14, 2024

[3] Current Cigarette Smoking Among Adults in the United States, CDC, published May 4, 2023, accessed August 14, 2024

[4] Press release, New Report Finds Major Geographic Smoking Disparities Across Midwest and Southern States, Truth Initiative, published June 28, 2023, accessed August 14, 2024

[5] Tobacco-free generation, United States: tobacco lobby very present at state and federal level, published on May 14, 2024, consulted on August 14, 2024