Tobacco-Related Costs and Expenditure
in the United States
Annually, cigarette smoking costs more than $193
billion, based on lost productivity (more than $97 billion) and
health care expenditures (more than $96 billion).3
Health care costs associated with exposure to
secondhand smoke average $10 billion annually.6
In 2005, the latest year with available data, the
cigarette industry spent almost $13.11 billion, or more than $36
million per day, on advertising and promotional expenses.7
States spend less than 3% of the $24.9 billion
available to them from tobacco excise taxes and tobacco industry
legal settlements on preventing and controlling tobacco use,
although investing only 6.4% of these funds would allow every state
tobacco control program to be funded at CDC-recommended minimum
levels.8
Nearly 21% of U.S. adults (45.3 million people) are
current cigarette smokers.9
Prevalence of cigarette smoking is highest among
American Indians/Alaska Natives (32.4%), followed by African
Americans (23.0%), whites (21.9%), Hispanics (15.2%), and Asians
[excluding Native Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders](10.4%).9
In the United States, 23% of high school students
are current cigarette smokers.10
Each day, about 1,300 persons younger than 18 years
of age become regular smokers; that is, they begin smoking on a
daily basis.11
Among adult smokers, 70% report that they want to
quit completely,12
and more than 40% try to quit each year.9
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Best Practices for Comprehensive Tobacco Control Programs—2007.
Atlanta: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Chronic Disease
Prevention and Health Promotion, Office on Smoking and Health;
October 2007. [cited 2008 Mar 21]. Available from:
http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/tobacco_control_programs/stateandcommunity/
best_practices/index.htm.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Cigarette Smoking-Attributable Morbidity—United States, 2000.
Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report [serial online].
2003;52(35) [cited 2006 Sep 23]. Available from:
http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5235a4.htm.
Nusselder WJ, Looman CWN,
Marang-van de Mheen PJ, van de Mheen H, Mackenbachet JP.
Smoking and the Compression of Morbidity.
Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health. 2000;54:566–74.
Behan DF, Eriksen MP, Lin
Y.
Economic Effects of Environmental Tobacco Smoke Report [paper on the Internet]. Schaumburg, IL: Society of
Actuaries; 2005 [cited 2006 Sep 23]. Available from:
http://www.soa.org/ccm/content/areas-of-practice/life-insurance
/research/economic-effects-of-environmental-tobacco-smoke-SOA/.
Federal Trade Commission.
Cigarette Report for 2004 and 2005.
(PDF–880K)
Washington, DC: Federal Trade Commission; 2007 [cited 2007 Apr 26].
Available from:
http://www.ftc.gov/reports/tobacco/2007cigarette2004-2005.pdf.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Cigarette Smoking Among Adults—United States, 2006.
Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report [serial online].
2007;56(44):1157–1161 [cited 2008 Mar 21]. Available from:
http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5644a2.htm.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Cigarette Use Among High School Students—United States, 1991–2005.
Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report [serial
online].
2006;55(26) [cited 2006 Sep 23]. Available from:
http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5526a2.htm.
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services
Administration.
Results from the 2006 National Survey on Drug Use and Health
(PDF–1.41MB):
(Office of Applied Studies, NSDUH Series H-32, DHHS Publication No.
SMA 07–4293). Rockville, MD [cited 2008 Mar 21]. Available from:
http://oas.samhsa.gov/nsduh/2k6nsduh/2k6results.pdf.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Cigarette Smoking Among Adults—United States, 2000.
Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report [serial online].
2002;51:642–5 [cited 2006 Sep 23]. Available from:
http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5129a3.htm.