Some Smoking
Cessation Statistics

Sometimes, it takes more than just words to get through to people just how bad some things are, or how hard they are, or how significant they are. The same kind of things comes to trying to quit smoking. There are some people who wake up one day, decide they're not going to smoke anymore, and move on with the rest of their lives. However, those people are in the minority.

So, we're going to give you statistics here, most of which you'll find spread out here and there across the internet, but we're compiling them all right here in one place so you don't have to search for them. These are numbers, some hard facts, some estimates, but all true nonetheless. Most of these stats aren't anywhere else on our site either; all new stuff:

Smoking, the United States and the world:

• Half of long-term smokers will die from tobacco. Every cigarette smoked cuts at least five minutes of life on average - about the time taken to smoke it


• Smoking is the single largest preventable cause of disease and premature death. It is a prime factor in heart disease, stroke and chronic lung disease. It can cause cancer of the lungs, larynx, esophagus, mouth, and bladder, and contributes to cancer of the cervix, pancreas, and kidneys


• At least a quarter of all deaths from heart diseases and about three-quarters of world's chronic bronchitis are related to smoking


• Smoking-related diseases cost the United States more than $150 billion a year


• Totally smoke-free workplaces are associated with reductions in prevalence of smoking of 3.8%, and 3.1 fewer cigarettes smoked per day per continuing smoker


• If all workplaces became smoke-free, consumption per capita in the entire population would drop by 4.5% in the United States and 7.6% in the United Kingdom, costing the tobacco industry $1.7 billion and 310 million pounds sterling annually in lost sales. To achieve similar reductions tax per pack would have to increase to $1.11 and 4.26 pounds sterling


• About a third of the male adult global population smokes


• Smoking related-diseases kill one in 10 adults globally, or cause four million deaths. By 2030, if current trends continue, smoking will kill one in six people


• Every eight seconds, someone dies from tobacco use


• Smoking is on the rise in the developing world but falling in developed nations Among Americans, smoking rates shrunk by nearly half in three decades (from the mid-1960s to mid-1990s), falling to 23% of adults by 1997. In the developing world, tobacco consumption is rising by 3.4% per year


• About 15 billion cigarettes are sold daily - or 10 million every minute


• Cigarettes cause more than one in five American deaths

Smoking, other countries:

• One British survey found that nearly 99% of women did not know of the link between smoking and cervical cancer


• One survey found that 60% of Chinese adults did not know that smoking can cause lung cancer while 96% were unaware it can cause heart disease


• About 12 times more British people have died from smoking than from World War II


• Among WHO Regions, the Western Pacific Region - which covers East Asia and the Pacific - has the highest smoking rate, with nearly two-thirds of men smoking


• About one in three cigarettes are consumed in the Western Pacific Region


• The tobacco market is controlled by just a few corporations - namely American, British and Japanese multinational conglomerates

In Northern Ireland during 2007/08:

• 21,476 people set a quit date through the smoking cessation services. This is an increase of 7,681, or 56%, of the figure for the same period the previous year


• Of those setting a quit date, 2% were under 18 years of age, 30% were aged 18-34, 24% were aged 35-44, 28% were aged 45-59, and 16% were aged 60 and over


• At the four-week follow-up 10,971 had successfully quit, 51% of those setting a quit date. This is a slight decrease on the figure for the previous year, 52%

In Great Britain:

• Smoking fell to its lowest recorded level in 2007; 21% of the population of Great Britain aged 16 and over


• 66% of smokers said they wanted to give up


• 17% of smokers said they lit up within five minutes of waking. Heavy smokers are more likely to light up immediately and 35 per cent of those smoking 20 or more a day do so, compared with 3 per cent of those smoking fewer than 10 a day


• Heavier smokers are less likely to want to give up. The proportion wanting to give up in 2007 was highest among those smoking, on average, fewer than 20 cigarettes a day


• Health concerns are the most commonly mentioned reason for quitting, with 86% of people who want to give up mentioning at least one health reason


• Married or cohabiting people smoke less, 18%, than singles, 28%


• Cigarette smoking is lower among households classified as professional and managerial, 15%, than among those classified as routine and manual, 26%


• Smoking is highest in the 20-24 age group, 31%, and lowest among those aged 60 and over, 12%

Kids:

• Among young teens (aged 13 to 15), about one in five smokes worldwide


• Between 80,000 and 100,000 children worldwide start smoking every day - roughly half of whom live in Asia


• Evidence shows that around 50% of those who start smoking in adolescent years go on to smoke for 15 to 20 years


• Peer-reviewed studies show teenagers are heavily influenced by tobacco advertising


• About a quarter of youth alive in the Western Pacific Region will die from smoking

Cessation Efforts:

• 99% of all people who try to stop smoking will suffer at least one withdrawal symptom


• A British doctors study showed that those who stopped smoking before they reached 30 years of age lived almost as long as those who never smoked

The immediate effects of smoking cessation include:

• Within 20 minutes blood pressure returns to its normal level


• After 8 hours oxygen levels return to normal


• After 24 hours carbon monoxide levels in the lungs return to those of a non-smoker and the mucus begins to clear


• After 48 hours nicotine leaves the body and taste buds are improved


• After 72 hours breathing becomes easier


• After 2 to 12 weeks, circulation improves


• After 5 years, the risk of heart attack falls to about half that of a smoker


• After 10 years, the chance of lung cancer is almost the same as a non-smoker

And some final statistics for you:

• Smokers who quit have a 50% reduction in their risk of cardiac events after one or two years. However, it may take 10 to 15 years for the excess coronary heart disease risk to entirely disappear


• Patients who are smoke-free for five years have half the risk for cancers of the oral cavity and esophagus than those who continue to smoke. Quitting smoking also cuts patients' risk of bladder cancer in half


• The risk of lung cancer in former smokers may be 30% to 50% less than that of current smokers


• Former smokers have a reduced risk of cervical cancer within a few years of quitting, and lower risk of pancreatic cancer after 10 smoke-free years


• Patients with established obstructive lung disease who quit have slower deterioration of lung function than those who continue to smoke

Some hard facts to help you with your decision as to whether smoking is as bad as believed, and whether cessation is the best course of action to take. We hope you answered yes.

© Smoke Not So Much 2009

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