06/01/2026
In terrific news for the nation’s health, new CDC survey results show that the adult cigarette smoking rate in the United States fell to record-low 9.1% in 2025 – the second straight year it has been under 10% and a dramatic decline from a high of 42.4% in 1965.
As our President and CEO Yolonda Richardson told the AP, “The continued decline in smoking is a monumental public health achievement that has saved millions of lives and billions in healthcare costs.”
But progress has been put at risk by the decimation of the federal to***co control infrastructure, including the elimination of the CDC’s Office on Smoking and Health and its highly effective Tips from Former Smokers public education campaign. These actions must be reversed.
The fight to reduce to***co use must remain a national priority. Cigarette smoking alone kills nearly 500,000 Americans every year and costs the nation over $600 billion annually in healthcare expenditures and lost productivity.
More than 24 million U.S. adults still smoke ci******es, and significant disparities persist. At the same time, the to***co industry continues to spend $8 billion annually – nearly $1 million every hour – to market ci******es in the U.S. while introducing new products designed to sustain addiction and protect profits.
The cigarette smoking rate among U.S. adults dropped to another all-time low last year. A government survey shows that about 1 in 11 adults said they were current smokers.
