Current Cigarette Smoking Among Adults — United States, 2005–2014

Abstract

Tobacco smoking is the leading cause of preventable disease and death in the United States, resulting in approximately 480,000 premature deaths and more than $300 billion in direct health care expenditures and productivity losses each year (1). To assess progress toward achieving the Healthy People 2020 objective of reducing the percentage of U.S. adults who smoke cigarettes to ≤12.0%,* CDC assessed the most recent national estimates of smoking prevalence among adults aged ≥18 years using data from the 2014 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS). The percentage of U.S. adults who smoke cigarettes declined from 20.9% in 2005 to 16.8% in 2014. Among daily cigarette smokers, declines were observed in the percentage who smoked 20–29 cigarettes per day (from 34.9% to 27.4%) or ≥30 cigarettes p