Cigarette smoking plummets to all-time low: Just 11% of US adults say they’ve lit up recently

Cigarette smoking among Americans has plummeted to an all-time low, with only 11 percent of U.S. adults saying they have smoked cigarettes in the past week, according to a new Gallup poll.

It’s even less popular with Gen Z — with just 6% of people under 30 saying that they light up.

Gallup’s most recent poll, conducted July 1 to 21, shows a sharp decline in rates of cigarette smoking among American adults compared to their first poll of its kind in 1944 — when 41 percent of adults said they smoked.

The figure is also stark in contrast to the 45 percent of Americans who smoked in the 50s. In the 80s, over a third of Americans admitted that they smoked, according to Gallup.

The drop-off in young who smoke is a major cause of the shift, according to Gallup. In the early 2000s, some 35% of Americans under 30 said they had smoked cigarettes in the past week.

While younger Americans are now less likely than any other age group to smoke cigarettes, they are the group most likely to smoke e-cigarettes, Gallup data revealed.

According to the group, 18 percent of adults aged 18 to 29 vape, with the rate declining among older age groups, down to one percent of those 65 and older.

The poll also found a relationship between education and cigarette smoking, with 5 percent of college graduates and 15 percent of non-graduates saying they have smoked cigarettes, based on the 2022-2024 data.

Low rates of smoking may stem from decades of scientific data and warnings that the products are dangerous to use. Nearly 80% of American adults surveyed said cigarettes are “very harmful,” compared to 57% said the same about e-cigarettes.

Most of those surveyed also said chewing tobacco was “very harmful” to users, though few felt the same about cigars, pipes or nicotine pouches. Still, at least seven of 10 Americans believe these products are at least “somewhat harmful,” according to Gallup.

Those who smoke are also less inclined than non-smokers to say they consider the substance harmful. Eighty percent of non-smokers said they found cigarettes harmful, while 58% of cigarette smokers said they found the practice harmful.

Additionally, only 63% of vape users feel e-cigarettes are harmful, compared to 79% of non-vapers who say they are, according to Gallup.