--- title: Cigarette Smoking in U.S. Drops to Lowest Level Since 1965 description: Despite declining smoking rates, tobacco use remains high as consumers pivot to alternative products. canonical: https://time.com/6277263/cigarette-smoking-lowest-level/ author: TIME article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2023-05-04T19:38:45.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-24T15:50:08.912Z article:section: Health og:title: Cigarette Smoking in the U.S. Drops to Lowest Level Since 1965 og:description: Despite declining smoking rates, tobacco use remains high as consumers pivot to alternative products og:url: https://time.com/6277263/cigarette-smoking-lowest-level/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0d754d4ebfd2c404/698a3c92e6e84a9c232b0154/cigarette-smoking.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Cigarette-smoking og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Cigarette Smoking in the U.S. Drops to Lowest Level Since 1965 twitter:description: Despite declining smoking rates, tobacco use remains high as consumers pivot to alternative products twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0d754d4ebfd2c404/698a3c92e6e84a9c232b0154/cigarette-smoking.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Cigarette Smoking in the U.S. Drops to Lowest Level Since 1965 by [Ilena Peng/Bloomberg](https://time.com/author/bloomberg/) ## Ilena Peng/Bloomberg Contributor May 4, 2023 7:38 PM UTC  Dazeley—Getty Images by [Ilena Peng/Bloomberg](https://time.com/author/bloomberg/) ## Ilena Peng/Bloomberg Contributor May 4, 2023 7:38 PM UTC Cigarette smoking rates sank to their lowest U.S. level in more than half a century, according to the latest government figures, although tobacco use remained high as consumers pivot to alternative products. Just 11.5% of Americans regularly lit up cigarettes last year, better than the 12% goal set by the U.S. government’s Healthy People 2020 plan and the lowest level since 1965, according to a report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Still, about one in five adults reported using a tobacco product in 2021, nearly unchanged from the [previous](https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/71/wr/mm7111a1.htm) year, with e-cigarette use rising to 4.5%. Companies including Marlboro maker Philip Morris International Inc. have contributed to the shift in tobacco consumption, expanding into smoke-free nicotine alternatives as cigarette use declines. The number of [e-cigarette](https://time.com/6048234/juul-downfall/) products, which include Imperial Brands Plc’s Blu vapes and [Juul](https://time.com/5680988/juul-vaping-health-crisis/) from formerly Altria Group Inc.-backed Juul Labs Inc., more than quadrupled in a year from June 2021 to 2022, according to a [Truth Initiative](https://truthinitiative.org/research-resources/emerging-tobacco-products/e-cigarette-products-sold-market-quadruple-just-one) analysis. The products have become [popular](https://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/basic%5Finformation/e-cigarettes/surgeon-general-advisory/index.html) among kids and young adults, in part because of a [perception](https://truthinitiative.org/research-resources/emerging-tobacco-products/3-main-reasons-youth-use-e-cigarettes) that e-cigarettes are less harmful than cigarettes. The use of creative flavors has also led to charges that the manufacturers deliberately court the youth market. E-cigarettes are also used by those who are looking for a traditional cigarette substitute or are trying to quit, though no e-cigarette has been [shown](https://www.lung.org/quit-smoking/helping-teens-quit/what-teens-should-know) to safely help people quit. About a third of people who reported using multiple tobacco products smoked both cigarettes and e-cigarettes, the study said. While cigarettes’ popularity has steadily [declined](https://www.lung.org/research/trends-in-lung-disease/tobacco-trends-brief/overall-tobacco-trends) since the 1960s, their use remains high in certain populations, including those with low incomes and living in rural areas, according to the study. Those disparities should be addressed through strategies like increasing product prices, running educational campaigns and regulating products, researchers said. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/6277263/cigarette-smoking-lowest-level/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/6277263/cigarette-smoking-lowest-level/"},"headline":"Cigarette Smoking in the U.S. Drops to Lowest Level Since 1965","datePublished":"2023-05-04T19:38:45.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-24T15:50:08.912Z","description":"Despite declining smoking rates, tobacco use remains high as consumers pivot to alternative products.","url":"https://time.com/6277263/cigarette-smoking-lowest-level/","keywords":["Public Health","wire","healthscienceclimate","bloomberg wire"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0d754d4ebfd2c404/698a3c92e6e84a9c232b0154/cigarette-smoking.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Ilena Peng/Bloomberg"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0d754d4ebfd2c404/698a3c92e6e84a9c232b0154/cigarette-smoking.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Cigarette-smoking","caption":"Cigarette-smoking","creditText":"Dazeley—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/public-health/","name":"Public Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/6277263/cigarette-smoking-lowest-level/","name":"Cigarette Smoking in the U.S. Drops to Lowest Level Since 1965"}}]}] ```