Fig. 02Stage 1, Why it holds
of US adults who smoked said they wanted to quit smoking (2022).
SourceCDC, Smoking Cessation: Fast Facts2022
Quit attempts and success rates: how many smokers want to quit, try and manage it
Most adults who smoke want to stop and about half try each year, yet few succeed in any single year. The CDC figures, and how to read them, are set out here.
The most useful numbers on quitting come from national surveys, and the CDC's Smoking Cessation: Fast Facts page gathers them. In 2022, 67.7% of US adults who smoked said they wanted to quit smoking. The same page reports that 53.3% had tried to quit in the past year and that 8.8% were able to quit successfully in the past year. This page walks through those three figures in order, adds what the CDC says about help received, and explains why a low yearly success figure does not mean most people never quit.
Wanting, trying and succeeding
The CDC summarizes the picture in one line: most adults who smoke cigarettes want to quit, and half report trying to quit in the past year, yet less than 1 in 10 succeed in quitting in a given year. The detailed 2022 figures are below. They draw on a CDC report on adult smoking cessation published in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) in 2024.
| Measure | 2022 figure |
|---|---|
| Adults who smoked and said they wanted to quit | 67.7% |
| Adults who smoked and had tried to quit in the past year | 53.3% |
| Adults who smoked and successfully quit in the past year | 8.8% |
These are separate survey measures reported for adults who smoked, so each stands on its own. They should not be chained together to calculate a new rate.
What a yearly success figure does and does not tell you
A figure of 8.8% measures success within one 12-month window. Many people try more than once, and the CDC states that tobacco dependence often requires multiple tries to quit successfully. The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) says similarly that most smokers will need to make multiple attempts before they are able to quit permanently. Neither source gives an average number of attempts, so this page does not offer one.
A different CDC figure shows the longer view. In 2021, 66.5% of adults who ever smoked cigarettes had quit. The CDC adds that since 2002 there have been more people who used to smoke than people who currently smoke. In other words, quitting is the common outcome over a lifetime, even though any single year looks discouraging.
You may see a slightly different yearly figure elsewhere. NIDA's 2020 research report says only about 6 percent of smokers are able to quit in a given year, while the CDC's 2022 data say 8.8%. These come from different publications and data years, and the NIDA page does not state which survey year its figure refers to, so the two are not directly comparable. The newer CDC figure is used for headline purposes here.
How much help people get
The CDC also reports how often people use proven treatments. In 2022, among adults who smoked and saw a health professional in the past year, 50.5% reported receiving advice to quit and 49.2% reported receiving assistance, meaning advice about ways to quit or a prescription for a quit-smoking medicine. The CDC notes that even brief advice, under 3 minutes, improves the chance of quitting successfully.
Among adults who smoked and tried to quit in the last year or successfully quit in the last 2 years, the CDC reports:
- 38.3% used counselling or medication when trying to quit.
- 36.3% used medication, and 7.3% used counselling.
- 5.3% used both counselling and medication, which the CDC says provides the best chance of quitting successfully.
Those numbers suggest that the tools with the strongest evidence are used by a minority. Detail on each tool is in quit methods compared, nicotine replacement therapy, prescription medicines for quitting and counselling and quitlines.
Young people who use tobacco
The CDC fast facts page also covers youth. In 2021, among middle and high school students who currently used tobacco products, 65.3% reported seriously thinking about quitting all tobacco products, and 60.2% reported they had stopped using all tobacco products for 1 day or longer in the past year because they were trying to quit. These figures cover all tobacco products, not just cigarettes, so they are not a like-for-like comparison with the adult cigarette figures above.
Reading these numbers with care
All of the figures above are for the United States. They come from the 2022 National Health Interview Survey, which the CDC's MMWR report says surveyed 27,651 adults and weighted the data to be nationally representative; the report puts the number of US adults who smoked at 28.8 million. The report defines a recent successful quit as being a former smoker who had quit for at least 6 months in the past year, so "succeeded" does not mean quit for life. The numbers are also a snapshot of a population, not a prediction for any one person. Someone who prepares, uses support and has a plan for slips is in a different position from the average smoker in a survey. See preparing to quit for what that preparation involves, and relapse and slips for what happens when an attempt stalls.
For the biology behind why repeat attempts are normal, read how nicotine dependence works.
This page is educational and not personal advice. Anyone who is pregnant, has heart disease or a mental health condition, or takes other medicines should speak with a clinician or pharmacist before changing how they quit.
Frequently asked questions
How many times does it take to quit smoking?
The sources used here do not give an average. The CDC says tobacco dependence often requires multiple tries to quit successfully, and NIDA says most smokers need multiple attempts before quitting permanently. Any specific number found elsewhere should be checked against its source.
What share of people who ever smoked have quit?
The CDC reports that in 2021, 66.5% of adults who ever smoked cigarettes had quit. The figure covers adults who smoked at some point, not only those who tried in the past year.
Why is the yearly success rate so low if most smokers want to quit?
The CDC says less than 1 in 10 adults who smoke succeed in a given year and that many do not get the advice, assistance and treatments that can help. Its 2022 data show 5.3% of recent quit-attempters and recent quitters used both counselling and medication.
The short version
In 2022, 67.7% of US adults who smoked wanted to quit and 53.3% had tried in the past year, while 8.8% succeeded within that year, according to the CDC. Success usually takes more than one attempt, and over a lifetime most people who ever smoked have quit. A clinician or pharmacist can help match treatment to a person's health, particularly during pregnancy, with heart disease, with a mental health condition or alongside other medicines.