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Benefits of Not Smoking

From 1995 to 1999, smoking caused approximately 440,000 people to die early each year in the United States, or one in every five deaths.

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Full Report in Adobe Acrobat Format (Pdf Logo PDF-240K)

Cigarette smoking is the leading cause of preventable disease and death in the United States. It is also costly to our nation.

Cigarette smoking has caused an estimated 12 million deaths since the first Surgeon General’s report on smoking in 1964. These include

  • 4.1 million deaths from cancer
     
  • 5.5 million deaths from cardiovascular (heart and blood vessel) diseases
     
  • 1.1 million deaths from respiratory diseases, and
     
  • 94,000 fetal and infant deaths.
     

From 1995 to 1999, smoking caused about 440,000 people to die early each year in the United States. That was one in every five deaths. Adults who smoke die an average 13 to 14 years early.

The U.S. Public Health Service has set goals to reduce smoking in our country by the year 2010. The first goal is to cut smoking rates among high school aged youth from 22 percent down to 16 percent. Among adults, the goal is to reduce smoking from 23 percent to 12 percent.

The economic burden of cigarette use is enormous. From 1995 to 1999, smoking related costs totaled $157.7 billion eah year. This figure includes more than $75 billion in direct medical costs for adults (ambulatory care, hospital care, prescription drugs, nursing homes, and other care), about $82 billion in indirect costs from lost productivity, and $366 million for neonatal care. This equals an estimated $3,000 per smoker per year.

If these goals are met, about 7.1 million early deaths will be prevented after 2010. Although adult and youth smoking rates have gone down in recent years, the diseases caused by smoking will continue for many years.

2010 Goal Cut youth smoking from 22% today to 16% in High School Youth Age 14-17. These numbers are the latest from CDC Surveillance Summaries on May 21, 2004. They show that fewer kids are smoking now than last year.2010 Goal Cut adult smoking from 23% to 12% in Adults over 18.

Facts You Should Know
 

One or more documents on this Web page is available in Portable Document Format (PDF). You will need Acrobat Reader (a free application) to view and print these documents.
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This page last reviewed May 25, 2004

United States 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