Prevalence of Daily Cigarette Use In the US By Age

"Among the 47.0 million current cigarette smokers aged 12 or older in 2018, 27.3 million were daily cigarette smokers. The 27.3 million daily smokers correspond to 58.2 percent of current cigarette smokers (Figure 4). Thus, nearly three fifths of current cigarette smokers in 2018 smoked cigarettes daily. The percentage of current smokers in 2018 who smoked cigarettes daily was lower than the percentages in most years from 2002 to 2012, but it was similar to the percentages in 2013 to 2017 (2018 DT 7.26).

"Among the 27.3 million daily smokers aged 12 or older in 2018, 10.8 million smoked 16 or more cigarettes per day (i.e., approximately one pack or more per day). Stated another way, about 2 out of 5 daily smokers (39.6 percent) smoked a pack or more of cigarettes per day (Figures 4 and 5). The percentage of daily smokers who smoked one or more packs of cigarettes per day was lower in 2018 than in 2002 to 2011, but it was similar to the percentages in 2012 to 2017.

"Aged 12 to 17
"In 2018, about 99,000 adolescents aged 12 to 17 smoked cigarettes every day in the past month. This number corresponds to about 1 in 7 adolescent current smokers (14.7 percent) (2018 DT 7.27). The 2018 percentage was lower than the percentages in most years from 2002 to 2014, but it was similar to the percentages in 2015 to 2017. The percentage of adolescent daily smokers who smoked one or more packs of cigarettes per day was not reported for 2018 due to low precision.¹²

"Aged 18 to 25
"About 2.4 million young adults aged 18 to 25 in 2018 were daily cigarette smokers in the past month, or 37.4 percent of young adults who were current cigarette smokers (2018 DT 7.29). Thus, nearly 2 in 5 young adults in 2018 who were current cigarette users smoked cigarettes daily. The percentage of young adult current smokers in 2018 who smoked cigarettes daily was lower than the percentages in 2002 to 2015, but it was similar to the percentages in 2016 and 2017. The percentage of young adult daily smokers in 2018 who smoked one or more packs of cigarettes per day (23.4 percent) was lower than the percentages in 2002 to 2010, but it was similar to the percentages in 2011 to 2017 (Figure 5).

"Aged 26 or Older
"In 2018, about 24.8 million adults aged 26 or older smoked cigarettes every day in the past month, which corresponds to 62.3 percent of the current smokers in this age group (2018 DT 7.30). The percentage of current smokers in this age group in 2018 who smoked cigarettes every day was lower than the percentages in 2002 to 2013, but it was similar to the percentages in 2014 to 2017. Despite the decline since 2002, when nearly 70 percent of current smokers aged 26 or older were daily smokers, about three fifths of current smokers in this age group in 2018 were daily smokers. Among daily smokers aged 26 or older, the percentage in 2018 who smoked one or more packs of cigarettes per day (41.4 percent) was lower than in 2002 to 2013. However, the percentage was stable from 2014 to 2018 (Figure 5)."