Smoking Cessation: Fast Facts

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Tobacco use can lead to tobacco dependence and serious health problems. Quitting smoking greatly reduces the risk of developing smoking-related diseases.1

Tobacco dependence is a condition driven by nicotine addition. It often requires multiple tries to quit successfully, but there are helpful treatments and resources for quitting.1

People who smoke can and do quit smoking for good. In fact, since 2002 there have been more people who used to smoke than people who currently smoke.1

U.S. Adult Smoking Cessation Behaviors

Photo of a jogger with the caption: Quitting Smoking is a Marathon, Not a Sprint

Most adults who smoke cigarettes want to quit.

  • In 2022, 67.7% of adults who smoked said that they wanted to quit smoking.2

Half of adults who smoke cigarettes report having made a quit attempt in the past year.

  • In 2022, 53.3% of adults who smoked said that they had made a quit attempt in the past year.2

Fewer than one in ten adults who smoke cigarettes succeed in quitting each year.

  • In 2022, 8.8% of adults who smoked successfully quit smoking in the past year.2

Only half of adults who smoke cigarettes who saw a health professional during the past year received advice or assistance to quit.

  • In 2022, 50.5% of adults who smoked who saw a health professional in the past year reported receiving advice to quit.2
  • In 2022, 49.2% of adults who smoked who saw a health professional in the past year reported receiving assistance to quit (advice about ways to quit or a prescription for a quit-smoking medicine).2
  • Even brief advice (<3 minutes) from a physician improves successful quitting and is highly cost-effective.1

Fewer than four in ten adults who smoke cigarettes used proven treatments (counseling or FDA-approved medications) when trying to quit smoking.

  • In 2022, 38.3% of adults who smoked reported using counseling or medication when trying to quit.2
  • In 2022, 7.3% of adults who smoked reported using counseling when trying to quit.2
  • In 2022, 36.3% reported using medication when trying to quit.2

Nearly two-thirds of adults who have ever smoked cigarettes have quit.

  • In 2021, 66.5% of adults who ever smoked cigarettes had quit.3

U.S. Youth Tobacco Cessation Behaviors

About two-thirds of youth who use tobacco report wanting to quit, and nearly two-thirds report trying to quit in the past year.4

  • In 2021, 65.3% of youth (middle and high school students) who currently used tobacco products reported that they were seriously thinking about quitting the use of all tobacco products.4
  • In 2021, 60.2% of youth who currently used tobacco products reported that they had stopped using all tobacco products for one day or longer in the past year because they were trying to quit.4
  1. Department of Health and Human Services. Smoking Cessation. A Report of the Surgeon General. Atlanta, GA: 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, 2020.
  2. VanFrank B, Malarcher A, Cornelius ME, Schecter A, Jamal A, Tynan M. Adult Smoking Cessation — United States, 2022. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 2024;73:633-641. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.15585/mmwr.7329a1.
  3. Cornelius ME, Loretan CG, Jamal A, et al. Tobacco Product Use Among Adults — United States, 2021. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 2023;72:475-483.
  4. Gentzke AS, Wang TW, Cornelius M, Park-Lee E, Ren C, Sawdey MD, Cullen KA, Loretan C, Jamal A, Homa DM. Tobacco Product Use and Associated Factors Among Middle and High School Students – National Youth Tobacco Survey, United States, 2021. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 2022; 71(No. SS-5):1–29.
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