Nicotine statistics and facts 2025

In this article:

• Nicotine facts
• Global nicotine use
• Tobacco trends in the U.S.
• Early initiation of smoking
• Early initiation of smoking
• The rise of e-cigarettes and vaping
• Nicotine use and overall health
• Tobacco control
• FAQs

In this article

• Nicotine facts
• Global nicotine use
• Tobacco trends in the U.S.
• Early initiation of smoking
• Early initiation of smoking
• The rise of e-cigarettes and vaping
• Nicotine use and overall health
• Tobacco control
• FAQs

Nicotine is a naturally occurring chemical produced by nightshade plants. Your diet likely includes small doses of nicotine, since it’s found in potatoes, tomatoes, and eggplants. While safe in these minuscule amounts, the high levels of nicotine found in tobacco plants are a different story. ”

Nicotine is highly addictive and the main reason people get hooked on tobacco products, whether it be cigarettes, cigars, vapes, hookah, or chewing tobacco. There are risks involved with nicotine use, but the biggest problem with tobacco products isn’t always the nicotine itself — it’s the thousands of other chemicals found in the plant. This mix of compounds is toxic and can lead to serious health consequences, such as lung disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and even cancer. 

Despite these potentially fatal risks, tobacco use remains popular to this day. To understand nicotine and tobacco use more, we’ve collected the latest research, statistics, and facts below.

The facts about nicotine

Since nicotine is tied to tobacco use, many of the latest facts are linked to statistics on smoking, the most popular method of using tobacco. 

“When you use something like a cigarette or vape, it’s the nicotine that creates the buzz and makes you want to keep using it,” explains Dr. Sylvie Stacy, MD, Medical Officer with Rehab.com. “Even though nicotine comes from a plant, it’s not harmless.”

We will dive deeper further on, but here are the basics about nicotine:

• Nearly 1 in 5 adults in the United States, or 19.8% of the population, use tobacco products. (CDC, 2024)
• Cigarettes are the most popular tobacco product, with smokers across the globe consuming an estimated 5 trillion cigarettes each year. (Vital Strategies, 2022)
• On average, smokers die 10 years earlier than non-smokers. (CDC, 2025)
• The way nicotine is delivered to the body impacts a person’s dependence. Inhaling tobacco smoke and vapors allows nicotine to enter the brain within seconds, making it more likely for people to become dependent on the chemical. (FDA, 2025)
• The least harmful forms of nicotine, though not free from risk, are nicotine replacement therapies (NRTs). These include gums, patches, and lozenges designed to help individuals quit smoking. (FDA, 2025)
• Over the years, smoking rates have significantly dropped. In 1965, 42% of adults reported smoking, compared to only 11.6% of adults in 2022. (American Lung Association, 2024)

Global nicotine use

• The most common form of tobacco use worldwide is smoking, but all forms of tobacco use are harmful, with no safe level of exposure to it. (WHO, 2025)
• Around the globe, more than 7 million people die each year from tobacco use. On top of that, an estimated 1.6 million non-smokers die from being exposed to second-hand smoke. (WHO, 2025)
• It’s estimated there are 1.3 billion tobacco users around the world, and 80% of these people live in low-income and middle-income countries. (WHO, 2025)

Tobacco trends in the U.S.

• The leading cause of preventable death in the United States is tobacco use. (CDC, 2024)
• A survey in 2021 found 61.6 million people in the U.S., or 22% of people 12 years and older, reported using tobacco products or vaping nicotine in the past 30 days, while 43.6 million people, or 15.6%, reported smoking cigarettes in the past 30 days. (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, 2022)
• An estimated 28.3 million (11.5%) U.S. adults were cigarette smokers in 2021, with 13.1% being men and 10.1% being women. (Rutgers Addiction Research Center)
• In 2020, around 23.6 million (8.5%) people in the U.S. aged 12 years and older reported having nicotine dependence in the past 30 days. (National Institute on Drug Abuse, 2020)

Early initiation of smoking

For decades, the tobacco industry has marketed its products to children and teens. Since smokers typically have higher death rates, these companies find new customers by appealing to them early. Tobacco advertising is often done in manipulative and subtle ways, like offering candy and fruit-flavored tobacco products or using cartoons to promote their brands, like the iconic Joe Camel.

This is even more concerning when you realize how much higher the risk of nicotine addiction is for young people, as discussed below.

• Nearly 90% of adults who smoke cigarettes daily reported that they first tried smoking before the age of 18 years. (National Cancer Institute, 2020)
• More than 825,000 children started using e-cigarettes in 2022, which is more than 2,200 per day. (American Lung Association, 2024)
• The younger someone starts using tobacco, the more likely they are to become addicted to it. (FDA, 2025)
• Since the brain is not fully developed yet in adolescents, tobacco use can disrupt their normal brain development. As a result of this disruption, smoking during adolescence can increase the risk of developing psychiatric disorders and cognitive impairments later in life. (Cold Spring Harbor Perspectives in Medicine, 2012)

The rise of e-cigarettes and vaping

A battery-powered device, called an e-cigarette or vape, has increasingly grown in popularity over the past decade. There are many shapes and sizes of e-cigarettes. Some are disposable, and others can be refilled. Unlike traditional cigarettes that use a flame and tobacco leaves, this option runs on electricity and houses liquid nicotine. 

When using an e-cigarette, a liquid blend is heated and turned into vapor, which is then inhaled. This process is referred to as vaping. The liquid inside the e-cigarette can be flavored and typically contains nicotine, but there are nicotine-free versions for those trying to quit. 

When compared to regular cigarettes, it’s believed e-cigarettes are safer, but not without risk. One study found that completely switching from cigarettes to e-cigarettes could reduce a person’s exposure to some harmful chemicals. However, the long-term effects of e-cigarette use need to be further researched. 

How popular is vaping? Here’s what to know.

• Monthly e-cigarette sales increased by 46.6% in the U.S. over the course of two years. In January 2020, 15.5 million units were sold compared to 22.7 million units in December 2022. (CDC, 2023)
• E-cigarette use among U.S. adults increased from 4.5% in 2019 to 6.5% in 2023. (CDC, 2025)
• Young adults aged 21 to 24 years were most likely to use e-cigarettes in 2023. (CDC, 2025)
• The liquid nicotine from e-cigarettes has been declared a hazardous waste by the United States Environmental Protection Agency. (EPA, 2015)
• One study surveying middle school and high school students in Florida suggested that early age nicotine vaping is associated with cigarette use, alcohol use, having substance-using friends, and increased incidences of school suspension and arrest. (Addictive Behaviors, 2021)

Nicotine use and overall health

Nicotine can affect a person’s overall health and quality of life. 

“The most common health concerns include an increased risk of heart disease, stroke, and respiratory issues like lung disease. It can also affect healthy brain development in children and adolescents,” says Dr. Charles Sweet, MD, medical advisor at Linear Health. 

According to Rutgers Addiction Research Center, nicotine can affect nearly every organ in the human body. Here’s how:

• The brain: Nicotine changes how synapses in the brain form, potentially resulting in cognitive issues, especially for those who start smoking at a younger age. It can also negatively affect mental health.
• The heart: Nicotine can have negative effects on cardiovascular health, including poor resting heart rate and blood pressure. According to the American Heart Association, almost one-third of deaths from coronary heart disease are due to smoking and secondhand smoke.
• The pancreas: The pancreas releases less insulin in nicotine users, raising blood sugar levels, which also increases the risk of developing diabetes.
• The kidneys: Smoking increases the risk of kidney damage. As a result, smokers are more likely to require kidney transplants or dialysis.
• The lungs and respiratory system: Inhaled forms of nicotine can lead to dry mouth, upper respiratory infections, lung irritation, chronic cough, asthma, and increased risk of lung cancer.
• The reproductive organs: Compared to non-smokers, smokers are more likely to have fertility problems.

Here are other ways nicotine and tobacco product use can affect a person’s health and longevity: 

• Blood pressure and cholesterol levels were similar in those who occasionally smoke only in social settings and those who regularly smoke, indicating that any tobacco use at all can affect your health. (CDC, 2025)
• Nicotine use in pregnant women can cause lasting consequences for brain development and lung function in their newborns. Nicotine exposure on a developing fetus can also result in low birth weights, preterm labor, and stillbirth. (CDC, 2025)

For those wanting to quit smoking, nicotine replacement therapies (NRTs), like a nicotine patch, can increase the chances of successfully quitting cigarettes and curbing a nicotine addiction. However, these cessation products still have a risk of harm due to their nicotine content.

The cost of nicotine

• In 2022, the average cost for a pack of cigarettes in the United States was $8. For someone who smokes one pack of cigarettes per day, this would cost $240 per month, $2,900 per year, and $29,000 over ten years. (American Cancer Society, 2022)
• In 2018, cigarette smoking was estimated to cost more than $600 billion in the United States. Over $240 billion of this portion was spent on healthcare. (CDC, 2024)
• Smoking-related illnesses and health conditions caused about $185 billion of lost productivity in 2018. (CDC, 2024)
• The estimated loss of productivity due to smoking-related premature death in 2018 was about $180 billion from smokers and about $7 billion from secondhand smoke exposure. (CDC, 2024)

Tobacco control

Since smoking is a major public health issue, there are various government agencies, like the Department of Health, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), that implement programs and legislation associated with tobacco. 

Here’s some of the latest news from these regulatory bodies:

• In January 2025, the FDA proposed a new rule that, if finalized, would limit the level of nicotine in cigarettes and certain other combusted tobacco products to minimally or nonaddictive levels. (FDA, 2025)
• The FDA’s Center for Tobacco Products expanded in 2016 to regulate all tobacco products, including cigars, e-cigarettes, hookah, and pipe tobacco. (FDA, 2024)
• Numerous other measures are in place to reduce the number of tobacco users. Some of these include cigarette and tobacco taxes, requiring corrective statements from tobacco companies for misleading claims, and government-funded smoking cessation programs, which aid smokers in quitting. (CDC, 2024)

Nicotine questions and answers

What percentage of the U.S. population uses nicotine?

In 2022, 49.2 million people reported currently using tobacco products. This accounts for nearly 1 in 5 adults in the United States, or 19.8% of the population.

What percent (%) of adult smokers started before age 18?

According to the CDC, nearly 90% of adult smokers reported they first tried smoking before the age of 18.

What age group uses the most nicotine?

The highest prevalence of current cigarette smokers is in those ages 45 to 64 years, with 14.9% of this age group using them, while the lowest prevalence was in those ages 18 to 24 years at 5.3%. (CDC, 2024)

However, when it comes to e-cigarettes, 11% of those ages 18 to 24 years reported using them in 2021, while the lowest prevalence was in those 45 years and older at 2%. (CDC, 2023)