African American Communities Experience a Health Burden from Commercial Tobacco

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Commercial tobacco* gets in the way of achieving health equity for African American people:

  • In 2020, 19.4% of non-Hispanic Black adults currently used any tobacco product.1
  • In 2021, an estimated 8.2% of non-Hispanic Black youth currently used any tobacco product, compared with 11.0% of non-Hispanic White youth.2 An estimated 3.1% of non-Hispanic Black youth currently used cigars, compared with 1.4% of non-Hispanic White youth.2
  • African American people usually start smoking at an older age than White people do but are more likely to die from smoking-related disease.3,4
  • About the same percent of African American adults and White adults smoke, but African American people smoke fewer cigarettes per day.3,4
heartbeat and cigarette

Despite starting to smoke cigarettes later in life, African American people are more likely than other racial and ethnic groups to have related health problems.

African American people are more likely to die from smoking-related diseases (e.g. heart disease, diabetes) than Hispanic people and Non-Hispanic, White people.3,4,5

More details on some of the reasons for these health disparities – and the public health measures that can improve health equity for African American people – are in this website section.

*“Commercial tobacco” means harmful products that are made and sold by tobacco companies. It does not include “traditional tobacco” used by Indigenous groups for religious or ceremonial purposes.
Next Section: Unfair and Unjust Practices Harm African American People and Drive Health Disparities >
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Page last reviewed: June 27, 2022
Content source: Office on Smoking and Health, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion