Current Cigarette Smoking Among Adults — United States, 2005–2015

Abstract

What is already known about this topic? Approximately one in five U.S. adults smoke cigarettes, and certain population groups have a higher prevalence of smoking. Despite significant declines during the past 30 years, cigarette smoking among adults in the United States remains widespread, and year-to-year decreases in prevalence have been observed only intermittently in recent years. What is added by this report? Overall smoking prevalence declined significantly during 2005–2012 (from 20.9% to 18.1% [p<0.05]). In addition, among daily smokers, the average number of cigarettes smoked per day declined from 16.7 in 2005 to 14.6 in 2012 (p<0.05 for trend). During the same period, the largest increase in the percentage of ever smokers who quit (from 22.7% to 26.5% [p<0.05]) and the largest declines in smoking prevalence (from 24.4% to 17.3% [p<0.05]) were observed among persons aged 18–24 years. What are the implications for public health practice? Effective public health interventions that can continue progress toward meeting the Healthy People 2020 target to reduce U.S. adult cigarette smoking to ≤12% include a combination of tobacco price increases, high-impact antitobacco mass media campaigns, comprehensive smoke-free laws, and barrier-free access to help quitting.