Tobacco-Related Costs and Expenditure
in the United States
Annually, cigarette smoking costs more than $193
billion ($97 billion in lost productivity and $96 billion in
health care expenditures).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 $13.4 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.8
Investing only 17% of these funds would allow every state tobacco
control program to be funded at CDC-recommended minimum levels.9
Approximately 19.8% of U.S. adults (43.4 million people) are
current cigarette smokers.10
Prevalence of cigarette smoking is highest among
American Indians/Alaska Natives (36.4%), followed by African
Americans (19.8%), whites (21.4%), Hispanics (13.3%), and Asians
[excluding Native Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders](9.6%).10
In the United States, 20% of high school students
are current cigarette smokers.11
Each day, about 1,100 persons younger than 18 years
of age become regular smokers; that is, they begin smoking on a
daily basis.12
Among adult smokers, 70% report that they want to
quit completely,13
and more than 40% try to quit each year.9
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.
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. [accessed 2009 Mar 31].
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services
Administration.
Results from the 2006 National Survey on Drug Use and Health
(PDF–1.41 MB):
(Office of Applied Studies, NSDUH Series H-32, DHHS Publication No.
SMA 07–4293). Rockville, MD [accessed 2009 Mar 31].