Early Release of Selected Estimates Based on Data from the 2012 National Health Interview Survey

Health officials have analyzed the 2012 findings from the National Health Interview Survey administered by the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics. The early release of current smoking estimates indicate 18 percent of adults in 2012 described themselves as current smokers, a decrease from the 2011 data which estimated a 19% current smoker rate. The prevalence of current smoking among U.S. adults declined from 24.7% in 1997 to 20.9% in 2005, then declined again from 20.6% in 2009 to 18.0% in 2012. For 2012, the percentage of adults aged 18 and over who were current smokers was 18.0% (95% confidence interval = 17.40%–18.56%), which was lower than the 2011 estimate of 18.9%.