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Fact Sheet

Tobacco-Related Mortality

(updated September 2006)

Overall Mortality

• Tobacco use is the leading preventable cause of death in the United States.¹ Cigarette smoking causes an estimated 438,000 deaths, or about 1 of every 5 deaths, each year.^2,3 This estimate includes approximately 38,000 deaths from secondhand smoke exposure.²
• Cigarette smoking kills an estimated 259,500 men and 178,000 women in the United States each year.²
• More deaths are caused each year by tobacco use than by all deaths from human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), illegal drug use, alcohol use, motor vehicle injuries, suicides, and murders combined.^2,4
• On average, adults who smoke cigarettes die 14 years earlier than nonsmokers.⁵
• Based on current cigarette smoking patterns, an estimated 25 million Americans who are alive today will die prematurely from smoking-related illnesses, including 5 million people younger than 18.⁶

Mortality from Specific Diseases

• Lung cancer (124,000), heart disease (108,000), and the chronic lung diseases of emphysema, bronchitis, and chronic airways obstruction (90,000) are responsible for the largest number of smoking-related deaths.²
• The risk of dying from lung cancer is more than 22 times higher among men who smoke cigarettes and about 12 times higher among women who smoke cigarettes compared with never smokers.⁷
• Since 1950, lung cancer deaths among women have increased by more than 600%.¹ Since 1987, lung cancer has been the leading cause of cancer-related deaths in women.¹
• Cigarette smoking results in a twofold to threefold increased risk of dying from coronary heart disease.⁷
• Cigarette smoking is associated with a tenfold increased risk of dying from chronic obstructive lung disease.⁶ About 90% of all deaths from chronic obstructive lung diseases are attributable to cigarette smoking.^1,7
• Pipe smoking and cigar smoking increase the risk of dying from cancers of the lung, esophagus, larynx, and oral cavity.⁸ Smokeless tobacco use increases the risk for developing oral cancer.^8,9

References

1. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Women and Smoking: A Report of the Surgeon General. Atlanta, GA: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, CDC, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Office on Smoking and Health; 2001 [cited 2006 Sep 23]. Available from: http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/sgr/sgr_2001/index.htm.
2. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Annual Smoking–Attributable Mortality, Years of Potential Life Lost, and Productivity Losses—United States, 1997–2001. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report [serial online]. 2005: 54(25) 625-628 [cited 2006 Sep 23]. Available from: http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5425a1.htm.
3. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Health United States, 2005 With Chartbook on Trends in the Health of Americans. (PDF–119KB) Hyattsville, MD: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, CDC, National Center for Health Statistics; 2006 [cited 2006 Sep 23]. Available from: http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/hus/tables/2003/03hus031.pdf.
4. McGinnis J, Foege WH. Actual Causes of Death in the United States. Journal of American Medical Association. 1993;270:2207–2212 [cited 2006 Sep 23].
5. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Annual Smoking-Attributable Mortality, Years of Potential Life Lost, and Economic Costs—United States, 1995–1999. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report [serial online]. 2002; 51(14):300–303 [cited 2006 Sep 23]. Available from: http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5114a2.htm.
6. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Perspectives in Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Smoking-Attributable Mortality and Years of Potential Life Lost—United States, 1984. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report [serial online]. 1997;46:444–451 [cited 2006 Sep 23]. Available from: http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/00047690.htm.
7. Novotny TE, Giovino GA. Tobacco Use. In: Brownson RC, Remington PL, Davis JR (eds). Chronic Disease Epidemiology and Control. American Public Health Association. 1998;117–148 [cited 2006 Sep 23].
8. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Reducing the Health Consequences of Smoking—25 Years of Progress: A Report of the Surgeon General. Atlanta, GA: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, CDC; 1989 [cited 2006 Sep 23]. DHHS Pub. No. (CDC) 89–8411. Available from: http://profiles.nlm.nih.gov/NN/B/B/X/S/.
9. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The Health Consequences of Using Smokeless Tobacco: A Report of the Advisory Committee to the Surgeon General, 1986. Bethesda, MD: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service; 1986 [cited 2006 Sep 23]. NIH Pub. No. 86–2874. Available from: http://profiles.nlm.nih.gov/NN/B/B/F/C/.

For Further Information

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion
Office on Smoking and Health
E-mail: tobaccoinfo@cdc.gov
Phone: 1-800-CDC-INFO

Media Inquiries: Contact CDC's Office on Smoking and Health press line at 770-488-5493.

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