Cigarette smoking in U.S. hits a historic low since eight decades

Cigarette smoking in the United States hit an historic low this year, according to Gallup, which has been monitoring smoking trends for eight decades.

The latest survey, based on Gallup’s annual Consumption Habits poll conducted in July, shows 11% of U.S. adults said they smoked cigarettes in the past week. That matches Gallup’s other lowest outcome in 2022, and comes close to the 12% smoking trend in 2023.

In 1944, when Gallup first questioned Americans about cigarettes, 41% of adults said they had smoked. Smoking peaked in 1954 with 45% of respondents admitting they had recently lit-up a cigarette. By the late 1980s, the smoking rate had declined but was still more than three times what it is today.

In its recent poll, Gallup found fewer people smoke due to perceptions that cigarettes are “very harmful.” This year’s survey shows 79% of Americans view cigarettes as “very harmful,” while 57% view e-cigarettes or vaping in the same way.

“Medical experts have long warned of the health dangers of smoking, and those educational efforts may be a factor in explaining why cigarette smoking is at an 80-year low,” according to Gallup.

Gallup also attributes the large drop in cigarette smoking to young adults, who are less likely to smoke cigarettes and more likely to smoke e-cigarettes, according to 2022-2024 data, which says 18% of adults aged 18 to 29 vape.

“The most recent cohort of young adults are responsible for much of the change. They have bucked the historical trends where young adults have been most likely to smoke cigarettes,” according to Gallup.

“Today’s young adults have substituted e-cigarettes for tobacco cigarettes, as roughly three times as many young adults vape as smoke cigarettes,” Gallup added. “While vaping presents fewer health risks than tobacco smoking, public health officials would still prefer U.S. adults not do either.”