Skip Navigation Links
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
CDC Home Search Health Topics A-Z
National Center For Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion
Tobacco Information and Prevention Source (TIPS)
TIPS Home | What's New | Mission | Fact Sheets | Site Map | Contact Us


Percentage of adults* who were current, former, or never smokers,+ overall and by sex, race, Hispanic origin, age, and education, National Health Interview Surveys, selected years—United States, 1965-2000

Click this to close the window.

Please note that this page is best printed in landscape view.

  1965 1966 1970 1974 1978 1979 1980 1983 1985 1987 1988 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1997 1998 1999 2000
Smoking status Total population
Current 42.4 42.6 37.4 37.1 34.1 33.5 33.2 32.1 30.1 28.8 28.1 25.5 25.7 26.5 25.0 25.5  24.7 24.7 24.1 23.5 23.3
Former 13.6 13.6 18.5 19.5 20.8 21.3 21.3 21.8 24.2 22.8 23.8 24.6 24.1 23.4 24.6 24.5  23.3 22.8 22.9 23.1 22.2
Never 44.0 43.7 44.2 43.4 45.0 45.2 45.5 46.1 45.8 48.4 48.1 49.9 50.2 50.1 50.5 50.0 52.0 52.4 53.0 53.5 54.6
Sex - Male
Current 51.9 52.5 44.1 43.1 38.1 37.5 37.6 35.1 32.6 31.2 30.8 28.4 28.1 28.6 27.7 28.2 27.0 27.6 26.5 25.7 25.7
Former 19.8 20.1 26.3 27.7 28.3 28.4 28.1 28.3 30.9 28.9 29.6 30.3 29.9 28.8 29.9 29.4 27.5 27.0 27.4 27.3 25.8
Never 28.3 27.4 29.6 29.2 33.6 34.1 34.4 36.6 36.5 39.9 39.6 41.3 42.1 42.6 42.4 42.4 45.5 45.4 46.2 47.0 48.5
Female
Current 33.9 33.9 31.5 32.1 30.7 29.9 29.3 29.5 27.9 26.5 25.7 22.8 23.5 24.6 22.5 23.1 22.6 22.1 22.0 21.5 21.0
Former 8.0 7.9 11.6 12.7 14.2 15.0 15.1 15.9 18.1 17.4 18.6 19.5 19.0 18.5 19.7 20.0 19.5 19.0 18.8 19.2 18.9
Never 58.1 58.2 56.9 55.2 55.2 55.1 55.5 54.6 54.0 56.0 55.8 57.7 57.6 57.0 57.8 56.9 57.9 58.9 59.3 59.3 60.1
Race - White
Current 42.1 42.4 37.0 36.4 33.9 33.3 32.9 31.8 29.6 28.5 27.8 25.6 25.5 26.6 24.9 25.6 24.8 24.8 24.4 23.7 23.7
Former 14.2 14.3 19.4 20.5 21.9 22.3 22.2 22.8 25.5 24.2 25.3 25.9 25.7 24.9 26.2 26.2 24.9 24.6 24.7 24.9 24.0
Never 43.8 43.3 43.6 43.1 44.3 44.4 44.9 45.3 44.9 47.3 47.0 48.5 48.9 48.6 48.9 48.1 50.3 50.7 50.9 51.5 52.3
Black
Current 45.8 45.9 41.4 44.0 37.7 36.9 36.9 35.9 34.9 32.9 31.7 26.2 29.1 27.8 26.1 27.0 25.7 26.8 24.6 24.3 23.2
Former 8.4 7.6 10.7 10.8 13.3 13.8 13.8 14.2 15.9 14.8 15.2 16.7 14.6 15.9 15.7 14.5 14.4 13.6 14.1 15.4 13.9
Never 45.8 46.5 47.8 45.3 49.0 49.4 49.4 49.9 49.2 52.3 53.1 57.1 56.2 56.3 58.2 58.4 59.9 59.6 61.3 60.3 62.9
Hispanic origin Hispanic
Current NA NA NA NA 31.6 29.5 30.0 25.3 25.9 23.6 23.6 23.0 20.2 20.7 20.4 19.5 18.3 20.4 19.1 18.1 18.6
Former NA NA NA NA 15.6 16.9 15.1 15.7 17.2 16.1 19.2 17.0 16.9 16.4 16.2 16.0 16.5 14.9 16.0 14.7 14.0
Never NA NA NA NA 52.9 53.6 54.9 59.0 56.9 60.4 57.3 60.0 63.0 62.9 63.4 64.5 65.2 64.7 64.9 67.2 67.5
Non-Hispanic
Current NA NA NA NA 34.3 33.7 33.4 32.6 30.3 29.2 28.4 25.7 26.1 27.0 25.4 26.1 25.4 25.2 24.7 24.1 23.8
Former NA NA NA NA 21.1 21.6 21.6 22.2 24.6 23.4 24.1 25.3 24.8 24.0 25.2 25.2 24.1 23.7 23.7 24.0 23.1
Never NA NA NA NA 44.6 44.6 45.0 45.3 45.1 47.5 47.4 49.0 49.0 49.1 49.4 48.6 50.6 51.1 51.6 51.9 53.1
  1965 1966 1970 1974 1978 1979 1980 1983 1985 1987 1988 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1997 1998 1999 2000
Age (years) 18-24
Current 45.5 44.6 38.0 37.8 34.4 34.4 33.3 34.2 29.3 27.1 25.9 24.5 22.9 26.4 25.8 27.5 24.8 28.7 27.9 27.9 26.8
Former 6.9 6.0 9.2 9.5 9.2 10.6 10.5 9.3 10.1 8.0 9.3 9.5 7.7 6.1 7.2 7.4 8.6 7.3 8.1 7.6 7.7
Never 47.6 49.4 52.8 52.7 56.4 55.0 56.2 56.5 60.6 64.9 64.8 66.0 69.3 67.4 67.0 65.1 66.6 64.0 64.0 64.5 65.5
25-44
Current 51.2 51.4 44.6 44.5 39.3 38.9 37.8 36.3 34.8 33.2 32.9 29.7 30.4 30.8 29.2 30.0 28.6 28.6 27.5 27.3 27.0
Former 13.6 13.5 18.8 18.4 19.5 19.6 19.8 19.0 21.4 19.6 19.2 20.0 19.4 18.1 18.6 18.1 17.5 15.9 15.7 15.4 14.4
Never 35.3 35.1 36.6 37.1 41.2 41.5 42.5 44.7 43.8 47.2 47.9 50.3 50.2 51.1 52.2 51.9 53.8 55.5 56.8 57.3 58.6
45-64
Current  41.6 42.7 38.6 37.7 36.7 34.8 35.6 33.3 31.6 30.9 29.4 27.0 26.9 27.3 26.0 25.5 25.5 24.4 25.0 23.3 24.0
Former 16.1 16.4 21.7 24.8 26.1 27.2 26.6 28.8 31.2 29.9 32.9 32.9 32.9 32.7 33.9 34.0 30.9 31.2 30.2 31.0 30.0
Never 42.3 41.0 39.7 37.5 37.3 38.0 37.9 37.9 37.3 39.3 37.6 40.1 40.2 40.1 40.1 40.5 43.5 44.3 44.8 45.7 46.1
>=65
Current 17.9 17.9 16.1 17.3 16.3 16.4 17.2 16.7 16.0 15.2 14.9 12.8 13.3 14.0 11.8 12.0 13.0 12.0 10.9 10.6 9.7
Former 15.0 16.0 21.3 23.3 28.1 27.5 27.9 30.7 34.0 34.1 34.5 36.6 36.4 36.5 38.4 39.9 37.7 38.6 40.3 40.6 38.9
Never 67.2 66.1 62.6 59.4 55.6 56.2 54.9 52.6 50.0 50.7 50.6 50.6 50.3 49.5 49.8 48.1 49.3 49.4 48.8 48.8 51.4
Education (years)@ Less than 12
Current NA 41.7 37.5 37.8 35.7 35.1 35.1 34.7 34.2 34.2 32.9 30.8 31.4 30.9 29.7 31.9 30.4 29.5 30.0 28.4 28.2
Former NA 14.1 18.6 19.8 21.0 22.6 21.7 23.2 26.3 24.8 25.8 26.3 25.3 27.0 27.1 26.2 25.3 25.1 25.4 24.8 25.1
Never NA 44.2 43.9 42.4 43.4 42.3 43.2 42.2 39.6 41.0 41.3 42.9 43.3 42.2 43.3 41.9 44.2 45.5 44.6 46.8 46.8
12
Current NA 44.7 39.3 38.8 37.0 35.3 35.4 34.9 33.4 32.9 32.7 30.1 30.6 31.3 29.2 29.8 29.5 29.9 28.8 27.8 29.0
Former NA 14.3 19.9 20.9 23.0 22.7 22.8 23.7 25.1 24.7 25.0 26.2 26.1 25.1 26.8 26.3 24.7 24.8 24.8 25.3 23.6
Never NA 41.0 40.8 40.4 40.0 42.0 41.8 41.4 41.5 42.5 42.3 43.7 43.3 43.6 44.1 43.9 45.9 45.3 46.5 46.9 47.4
13-15
Current NA 44.8 38.7 37.9 34.3 35.2 33.9 32.1 30.6 28.2 28.1 24.6 25.5 25.5 25.0 25.7 23.6 25.1 24.6 24.4 22.7
Former NA 17.0 22.1 24.1 26.9 24.7 24.9 25.1 27.5 26.1 27.2 27.5 28.1 27.7 28.2 28.1 27.1 26.0 26.0 25.7 25.2
Never NA 38.2 39.2 38.0 38.8 40.0 41.2 42.8 42.0 45.7 44.7 47.9 46.4 46.8 46.8 46.1 49.2 48.9 49.5 49.9 52.1
>=16
Current NA 35.3 28.8 28.8 24.2 23.7 24.5 20.6 19.0 16.6 16.3 13.9 13.9 15.5 13.5 12.2 14.0 11.6 11.3 11.5 11.5
Former NA 21.5 27.7 27.8 26.6 27.9 27.6 26.5 30.3 27.2 28.2 28.7 27.6 25.2 26.9 28.1 25.7 24.8 24.6 25.3 23.8
Never NA 43.2 43.5 43.4 49.2 48.4 47.9 52.9 50.7 56.2 55.5 57.4 58.5 59.3 59.5 59.7 60.3 63.6 64.1 63.2 64.7

* Persons >=18 years of age.

+ Prior to 1992, current smokers reported smoking >=100 cigarettes and currently smoked. Since 1992, current smokers reported smoking >=100 cigarettes and currently smoked every day or some days. Former smokers reported smoking >=100 cigarettes and did not currently smoke, never smokers reported that they had smoked <100 cigarettes.

@ Data on education are presented for persons >=25 years of age.

NA=Data not available.

Source: National Health Interview Surveys: 1965, 1966, 1970, 1974, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1983, 1985, 1987, 1988, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000.

 

Privacy Policy | Accessibility

TIPS Home | What's New | About Us | Site Map | Contact Us

CDC Home | Search | Health Topics A-Z

This page last reviewed April 11, 2003

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