Quitting Smoking

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In 2020, 53.9% of adults who smoke attempted to quit smoking within the past year.

Summary graph for Quitting Smoking, Click to see detailed view of graph

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Background

Quitting smoking has major and immediate health benefits for people of all ages. Quitting smoking dramatically reduces the risk of lung and other cancers caused by smoking, coronary heart disease, stroke, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). For example, 10-15 years after quitting, the risk of lung cancer decreases to about one-half that of a person who continues to smoke; with continued abstinence from smoking, the risk of lung cancer decreases even further.

Although quitting smoking is beneficial at any age, the earlier in life a person quits, the more likely it is that they will avoid the devastating health effects of continued tobacco use. Few people who smoke quit successfully on their first attempt; most will require many attempts before they are able to permanently quit. This emphasizes the need for those who smoke to begin trying to quit as early in life as possible.

A number of strategies can increase the likelihood of successful smoking cessation, including comprehensive, barrier-free, and widely promoted access to insurance coverage for smoking cessation treatment, and the use of FDA approved smoking cessation medications together with behavioral counseling to support quit attempts. Behavioral counseling and support can be delivered using individual or group counseling, or by quitlines, web and internet, or text-messaging platforms. Cessation rates can also be improved by adopting population-level policies, such as tobacco product price increases or comprehensive smokefree policies, implementing anti-tobacco mass media campaigns, requiring pictorial health warnings on tobacco products, and maintaining comprehensive statewide tobacco control programs. 

Recently, the FDA announced(link is external) a proposal to prohibit menthol as a characterizing flavor in cigarettes and all characterizing flavors (other than tobacco) in cigars. These proposed rules have the potential to significantly reduce the death and disease caused by smoking by reducing youth use and experimentation, and by increasing the number of people that quit. In addition, the FDA also announced(link is external) plans to develop a proposed product standard that would establish a maximum nicotine level to reduce the addictiveness of cigarettes and some other combustible tobacco products. The goal of this proposed product standard would be to reduce youth use, addiction, and death.

Measure

Attempt to quit: The percentage of adults (aged 18 years and older) who attempted smoking cessation within the past 12 months. The numerator of this measure includes both people who currently smoke every day or some days and who, at the time of the survey, had quit smoking for at least 1 day during the past 12 months, as well as people who quit smoking less than or equal to 1 year ago. The denominator of this measure includes all adults who smoked 12 months prior to the survey.

Successful quitting: The percentage of adults (aged 18 years and older) who smoke and successfully quit smoking in the past 12 months. The numerator of this measure includes adults who quit smoking 6-12 months prior to the survey. The denominator of this measure includes adults who:

  1. Formerly smoked and had quit smoking 6-12 months prior to the survey.
  2. Formerly smoked and had quit smoking less than 6 months prior to the survey.
  3. Currently smoked at the time of the survey and who initiated smoking at least 2 years prior to the survey.

Healthy People 2030 Target

  • Increase to 65.7 percent the proportion of adults who currently smoked (aged 18 years and older) who stopped smoking for a day or longer because they were trying to quit.
  • Increase to 10.6 percent the proportion of adults who smoked (aged 18 years and older) who successfully quit smoking.

Healthy People 2030 is a set of goals set forth by the Department of Health and Human Services.
Note: Goals are indicated as blue line on Detailed Trend Graphs.

Data Source

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics, National Health Interview Survey 1998-2020.

In 2019 the NHIS questionnaire was redesigned to increase relevance, enhance data quality, and minimize respondent burden. In addition, the COVID-19 pandemic created challenges conducting in-person interviews for the 2020 NHIS, requiring changes to field procedures to conduct most surveys by telephone, which impacted survey response rates. For details related to the potential impacts of these issues, please refer to Potential Impact of NHIS Redesign and COVID-19 on the Cancer Trends Progress Report.

Trends and Most Recent EstimatesHelp with navigating the graphs and data tables

Attempted to Quit Smoking

By Sex
Percentage of adults aged 18 years and older who smoke and attempted to stop smoking for one day or longer in the past year by sex, 1998-2020
Overview Graph Detailed Trend Graphs Most Recent Estimates (2020)
Percent of adults who smoke 95% Confidence Interval
Thumbnail of graph for Percentage of adults aged 18 years and older who smoke and attempted to stop smoking for one day or longer in the past year by sex, 1998-2020 Both SexesClick to see the detailed trend graph for Both Sexes 53.9 51.6 - 56.1
MaleClick to see the detailed trend graph for Male 53.5 50.6 - 56.5
FemaleClick to see the detailed trend graph for Female 54.1 50.8 - 57.4
By Race/Ethnicity
Percentage of adults aged 18 years and older who smoke and attempted to stop smoking for one day or longer in the past year by race/ethnicity, 1998-2020
Overview Graph Detailed Trend Graphs Most Recent Estimates (2020)
Percent of adults who smoke 95% Confidence Interval
Thumbnail of graph for Percentage of adults aged 18 years and older who smoke and attempted to stop smoking for one day or longer in the past year by race/ethnicity, 1998-2020 All RacesClick to see the detailed trend graph for All Races 53.9 51.6 - 56.1
Non-Hispanic WhiteClick to see the detailed trend graph for Non-Hispanic White 51.1 48.4 - 53.8
Non-Hispanic BlackClick to see the detailed trend graph for Non-Hispanic Black 60.4 52.8 - 67.5
HispanicClick to see the detailed trend graph for Hispanic 55.4 48.6 - 61.9
By Age
Percentage of adults aged 18 years and older who smoke and attempted to stop smoking for one day or longer in the past year by age, 1998-2020
Overview Graph Detailed Trend Graphs Most Recent Estimates (2020)
Percent of adults who smoke 95% Confidence Interval
Thumbnail of graph for Percentage of adults aged 18 years and older who smoke and attempted to stop smoking for one day or longer in the past year by age, 1998-2020 Ages 18-24Click to see the detailed trend graph for Ages 18-24 63.4 50.4 - 74.7
Ages 25 and olderClick to see the detailed trend graph for Ages 25 and older 52.2 50.1 - 54.3
By Poverty Income Level
Percentage of adults aged 18 years and older who smoke and attempted to stop smoking for one day or longer in the past year by poverty income level, 1998-2020
Overview Graph Detailed Trend Graphs Most Recent Estimates (2020)
Percent of adults who smoke 95% Confidence Interval
Thumbnail of graph for Percentage of adults aged 18 years and older who smoke and attempted to stop smoking for one day or longer in the past year by poverty income level, 1998-2020 <200% of federal poverty levelClick to see the detailed trend graph for <200% of federal poverty level 55.0 51.4 - 58.6
>=200% of federal poverty levelClick to see the detailed trend graph for >=200% of federal poverty level 53.0 50.0 - 55.9
By Education Level
Percentage of smokers aged 25 years and older who smoke and attempted to stop smoking for one day or longer in the past year by highest level of education obtained, 1998-2020
Overview Graph Detailed Trend Graphs Most Recent Estimates (2020)
Percent of adults who smoke 95% Confidence Interval
Thumbnail of graph for Percentage of smokers aged 25 years and older who smoke and attempted to stop smoking for one day or longer in the past year by highest level of education obtained, 1998-2020 Less than High SchoolClick to see the detailed trend graph for Less than High School 51.8 46.0 - 57.5
High SchoolClick to see the detailed trend graph for High School 51.7 48.2 - 55.2
Greater than High SchoolClick to see the detailed trend graph for Greater than High School 52.6 49.7 - 55.4

Successfully Quit Smoking

By Sex
Percentage of recent smoking cessation success among adults aged 18 years and older who smoke by sex, 1998-2020
Overview Graph Detailed Trend Graphs Most Recent Estimates (2020)
Percent of adults who smoke 95% Confidence Interval
Thumbnail of graph for Percentage of recent smoking cessation success among adults aged 18 years and older who smoke by sex, 1998-2020 Both SexesClick to see the detailed trend graph for Both Sexes 8.5 7.3 - 9.8
MaleClick to see the detailed trend graph for Male 8.1 6.7 - 9.9
FemaleClick to see the detailed trend graph for Female 8.8 6.9 - 11.2
By Race/Ethnicity
Percentage of recent smoking cessation success among adults aged 18 years and older who smoke by race/ethnicity, 1998-2020
Overview Graph Detailed Trend Graphs Most Recent Estimates (2020)
Percent of adults who smoke 95% Confidence Interval
Thumbnail of graph for Percentage of recent smoking cessation success among adults aged 18 years and older who smoke by race/ethnicity, 1998-2020 All RacesClick to see the detailed trend graph for All Races 8.5 7.3 - 9.8
Non-Hispanic WhiteClick to see the detailed trend graph for Non-Hispanic White 9.6 8.1 - 11.4
Non-Hispanic BlackClick to see the detailed trend graph for Non-Hispanic Black 7.8 4.8 - 12.5
HispanicClick to see the detailed trend graph for Hispanic 5.2 3.2 - 8.3
By Age
Percentage of recent smoking cessation success among adults aged 18 years and older who smoke by age, 1998-2020
Overview Graph Detailed Trend Graphs Most Recent Estimates (2020)
Percent of adults who smoke 95% Confidence Interval
Thumbnail of graph for Percentage of recent smoking cessation success among adults aged 18 years and older who smoke by age, 1998-2020 Ages 18-24Click to see the detailed trend graph for Ages 18-24 15.8 8.6 - 27.3
Ages 25 and olderClick to see the detailed trend graph for Ages 25 and older 7.6 6.6 - 8.7
By Poverty Income Level
Percentage of recent smoking cessation success among adults aged 18 years and older who smoke by poverty income level, 1998-2020
Overview Graph Detailed Trend Graphs Most Recent Estimates (2020)
Percent of adults who smoke 95% Confidence Interval
Thumbnail of graph for Percentage of recent smoking cessation success among adults aged 18 years and older who smoke by poverty income level, 1998-2020 <200% of federal poverty levelClick to see the detailed trend graph for <200% of federal poverty level 6.2 4.6 - 8.4
>=200% of federal poverty levelClick to see the detailed trend graph for >=200% of federal poverty level 10.0 8.4 - 11.9
By Education Level
Percentage of recent smoking cessation success among adults aged 25 years and older who smoke by highest level of education obtained, 1998-2020
Overview Graph Detailed Trend Graphs Most Recent Estimates (2020)
Percent of adults who smoke 95% Confidence Interval
Thumbnail of graph for Percentage of recent smoking cessation success among adults aged 25 years and older who smoke by highest level of education obtained, 1998-2020 Less than High SchoolClick to see the detailed trend graph for Less than High School 5.8 3.7 - 9.1
High SchoolClick to see the detailed trend graph for High School 6.3 4.8 - 8.1
Greater than High SchoolClick to see the detailed trend graph for Greater than High School 9.4 7.9 - 11.0

Additional Information on Quitting Smoking

Quitting Smoking Resources

Year Range

1998-2020

Recent Summary Trend Year Range

2016-2020

Summary Tables

Clinicians' Advice to Quit Smoking

Recent Summary Trend

Rising

Desired Direction

Rising