There are 50.6 million tobacco users in the US, making it the fourth largest consumer market for tobacco in the world (behind China, India and Indonesia).
Approximately 5.6 million people ages 15 and older currently use smokeless tobacco (2.5% of the population).
Approximately 10.9 million people ages 15 and older use e-cigarettes.
Current tobacco product use was highest among non-Hispanic American Indian/Alaska Native adults (32.3%), followed by non-Hispanic multiracial adults (25.4%), non-Hispanic whites (21.9%), non-Hispanic blacks (19.3%), Hispanic adults (13.8%) and non-Hispanic Asian adults (10.0%).
The prevalence of current tobacco product use was higher among persons who had a GED (41.4%) versus those with other levels of education, and higher among those who were divorced, separated, or widowed (22.6%) or single, never married, or not living with a partner (21.1%) versus those married or living with a partner (18.4%).
Current tobacco product use was higher among persons with an annual household income of less than USD 35,000 (26.2%) versus those in higher income groups, and higher among LGBTQ adults (29.2%) versus heterosexual adults (19.5%).
Tobacco use is also significantly higher among men (25.8%) versus women (14.1%).
There is substantial variation in the prevalence of tobacco use by region. For example, tobacco prevalence is higher in the Midwest (23.6%) and the South (21.4%) U.S. Census regions versus the West (15.3%) or the Northeast (17.5%).
HEALTH AND ECONOMIC BURDEN FROM TOBACCO USE
In 2019, tobacco use accounted for 550,000deaths, or 19.2% of all deaths in the country.
Smoking-related illness in the United States cost more than USD 300 billion each year.
Various forms of tobacco use are responsible for an estimated 20% of all cancers in the US.
REGULATORY ENVIRONMENT
U.S. has not signed the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC). However, it has a strong tobacco policy environment.
In May 2016, the US Food and Drug Administration extended its authority to regulate cigars, pipe tobacco, hookah tobacco, heated tobacco and e-vapor products, deeming them to be subject to the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. All manufacturers will need to file a PMTA (Pre-Market Tobacco Application).
U.S. tobacco production has decreased significantly since the 1990s (from nearly 850,000 tons of tobacco in 1992 to about 239,000 tons in 2021).
The United States is the sixth largest tobacco-producing country in the world. Farms in the country harvested more than 239,000 tons of tobacco in 2021.
In 2021 two states, North Carolina and Kentucky, accounted for more than 77% of total tobacco production.
As research findings become available that are inclusive of additional gender identities, the Foundation will update the information presented.
