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Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion
Office on Smoking and Health
Tel: 1-800-CDC-INFO
(1-800-232-4636)
TTY: 1-888-232-6348
E-mail: tobaccoinfo@cdc.gov
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Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Reports (MMWRs)
Cigarette Smoking Among Adults—United States, 2003
May 27, 2005 / Vol. 54 / No. 20
MMWR Highlights
- In 2003, 45.4 million adults (21.6%) in the United States
were current smokers—24.1% of men and 19.2% of women.
For the first time since data collection began in 1965, the prevalence
of cigarette smoking among women declined below 20%.
- Among racial and ethnic groups, smoking prevalence was lowest among
Asians (11.7%) and Hispanics (16.4%) and highest among
American Indians/Alaska Natives (39.7%).
- Among income groups, smoking prevalence was higher among adults
living below the poverty level (30.5%) than those at or above
the poverty level (21.7%).
- Smoking prevalence was lowest among those aged 65 years and older
(9.1%) and highest among those aged 25–44 (25.6%).
- By education level, adults who had earned a General Educational
Development (GED) diploma (44.4%) had the highest prevalence
of smoking; those with master’s, professional, and doctoral degrees
had the lowest prevalence (7.5%).
- Among current adult smokers, 36.8 million (81.0%) smoked
every day, and 8.6 million (19.0%) smoked some days.
- An estimated 45.9 million adults were former smokers in 2003, representing
50.3% of those who had ever smoked. For the second consecutive
year, more adults have quit than are still smoking.
- An estimated 15.1 million (41.1%) adult smokers had stopped
smoking for at least 1 day during the preceding 12 months because they
were trying to quit.
- Smoking prevalence rates among several subpopulations have dropped
below the 2010 health objective target of 12%. These subpopulations
included women with undergraduate (11.0%) or graduate degrees
(6.7%), men with graduate degrees (8.1%), Hispanic women
(10.3%), Asian women (6.5%), men aged >65 years (10.1
percent), and women aged >65 years (8.3%).
- During 1983–2003, a sustained decline in cigarette smoking prevalence
occurred in all age groups except persons aged 18–24 years. In this
group, prevalence increased, but not significantly, during 1993–2002,
before declining significantly from 28.5% in 2002 to 23.9%
in 2003, the lowest reported prevalence for persons aged 18–24 years
since 1991.
Page last reviewed 02/28/2007
Page last modified 02/28/2007