A Gallup poll released on Friday has revealed that cigarette smoking in the US has held fast to an all-time low that was first reached last year, with survey results finding that only 12% of Americans smoked cigarettes in the past week.
The poll determined that 12% figure is a 1% increase from last year, but is still “significantly lower” than the last eight decades of data collected on the issue.
An analysis of the findings note that between 1944 and 2012, smoking rates in the US were 20% or higher. Rates then hit a historic high in June 1954 with 45% of Americans smoking cigarettes before dropping. Then in April 1972, 43% of Americans were found to be smokers.
The poll also found a decline in how much current smokers were lighting up. For instance, the number of smokers who smoke less than one pack of cigarettes per day increased to 71% for data based on the years between 2020 and 2023, while the percentage of those who smoke more than one pack a day decreased to 6%.
In their report, Gallup revealed the major decline is likely due to the fact that fewer young adults are smoking today than in prior decades. Between 2001 and 2003, 35% of young adults said they smoked cigarettes, that figure then dropped to 10% based on data from between 2019 and 2023.
The survey had also asked respondents about their use of electronic cigarettes or vaping.
Some 8% of adults said they smoked e-cigarettes in the past week, a percentage that was “consistent” with what pollsters measured on “three other occasions since 2019.” But while the number of young adults smoking cigarettes is decreasing, those between the ages of 18 and 29 years old are the most likely to smoke e-cigarettes, with 18% in that age range saying they smoke e-cigarettes.
The poll also found that 27% of young adults in that age group said they smoke marijuana.
“The fact that Americans generally view cigarettes as the most harmful of the three suggests that public health efforts to discourage cigarette smoking have been getting through,” Gallup concludes in their analysis, but added that public health experts may want to increase their public outreach on the health risks of e-cigarettes and marijuana use.