How Many Ex-Smokers Are There? Former Smoker Data 2026

How many ex smokers are there? In the US, UK, Canada, Australia and Ireland, former smokers now outnumber current smokers, often by more than two to one. In the United States, the CDC says there have been more people who used to smoke than people who smoke since 2002. In Great Britain, 74.2% of people who ever smoked regularly had quit by 2024, which works out to roughly 14 million ex-smokers.

Are There More Ex-Smokers Than Smokers?

Yes, by a wide margin. Every national survey we checked for the US, England, Canada, Australia and Ireland found more former smokers than current smokers. The table shows the latest figures, each with its own survey, age range and data year.

These surveys define a former smoker slightly differently, so the numbers are not a perfect like-for-like comparison. The direction is the same everywhere, though: for every person who still smokes, there are at least one and a half people who have stopped, and in England the ratio is two and a half to one.

That matters if you are thinking about quitting. The idea that almost nobody manages to stop is wrong. Most people who have ever smoked in these countries already have. For the global view of how smoking itself has declined, see our smoking rates by country ranking.

US Former Smoker Figures and the Quit Ratio

The CDC tracks quitting through the National Health Interview Survey. It counts a former smoker as someone who has smoked at least 100 cigarettes in their life but does not smoke now.

According to the CDC’s Smoking Cessation Fast Facts, 66.5% of US adults who had ever smoked cigarettes had quit by 2021. That share is known as the quit ratio. The CDC also states that, since 2002, there have been more former smokers than current smokers in the United States.

The flow into that group is steady but slow. In 2022, 67.7% of adults who smoked wanted to quit and 53.3% tried to quit in the past year. Only 8.8% succeeded in quitting for at least six months within that year. Younger adults were far more likely to succeed: 15.3% of people aged 18 to 24 who smoked had recently quit, compared with 5.6% of those aged 45 and over.

Current smoking keeps falling as a result. The CDC reported 11.6% of adults smoking in 2022, about 28.8 million people, and its 2025 early release puts the figure at 9.1%. Rates vary widely by state, as our breakdown of smoking rates by state shows.

In this CDC Tips From Former Smokers video, a former smoker explains how she finally quit.

UK, Canada, Australia and Ireland

United Kingdom

The Office for National Statistics measures the quit ratio through its Opinions and Lifestyle Survey. In its Adult smoking habits in Great Britain dataset, 74.2% of people aged 16 and over who had ever smoked regularly had quit by 2024. Women had a slightly higher quit ratio (75.4%) than men (73.2%).

The same table gives a weighted base of about 19.0 million people in Great Britain who had ever smoked regularly. Applying the 74.2% quit ratio gives roughly 14 million ex-smokers. That is our calculation from the ONS figures, not a number the ONS publishes. Our full UK smoking statistics page covers current smoking by nation and age.

The long-run change is striking. In 1974, only about a quarter of people who had ever smoked had quit. Fifty years later, three quarters have.

Canada

Health Canada’s Canadian Tobacco and Nicotine Survey found that 23.2% of Canadians aged 15 and over were former smokers in 2022, about 7.4 million people. That is more than twice the 3.5 million who smoked cigarettes.

Australia

The Australian Bureau of Statistics reported that 29.6% of adults were ex-smokers in 2022, compared with 10.6% who smoked daily. Another 58.3% had never smoked, up from 51.1% in 2011–12.

Ireland

The Healthy Ireland Survey 2025 summary report found that 30% of people aged 15 and over were ex-smokers and 17% smoked. The survey says there are more ex-smokers than current smokers in every age group above 34.

Quit Ratio by Age

The older people get, the more likely they are to have quit. Older people have simply had more years in which to stop.

Among 16 to 24 year olds in Great Britain, only 31.1% of those who had smoked regularly had quit, although this age group has a small survey sample. By age 60 and over, the figure reaches 85.5%. Our research on quit attempts before success explains why reaching that point often takes several tries.

England’s larger Annual Population Survey shows the same pattern in a different way. It compares ex-smokers and current smokers as shares of all adults in each age group.

From age 25 upward, ex-smokers outnumber current smokers in England. Only among 18 to 24 year olds are smokers slightly ahead, which is unsurprising given how little time young adults have had to quit. Australia shows a similar pattern: 42.7% of people aged 65 to 74 were ex-smokers in 2022, compared with 9.5% of 18 to 24 year olds.

Age also affects the payoff. Quitting at any age helps, but the earlier people stop, the more life expectancy they recover, as our guide to life expectancy after quitting sets out.

How Long Most Ex-Smokers Have Been Quit

Most former smokers are not recent quitters. Canada’s national survey is one of the few that publishes how long ago people stopped.

Four in five Canadian ex-smokers had been smoke-free for more than five years in 2022. Only 4.2% had quit in the past year. In other words, the ex-smoker population is mainly made up of people who quit long ago and stayed quit.

If you have recently stopped, you might wonder when you can call yourself a non-smoker. Survey definitions differ, and our explainer on when you count as a non-smoker covers the medical, insurance and survey versions.

What Most Ex-Smokers Used to Quit

Surveys consistently find that most people try to quit without formal help, even though counseling and medication improve the odds.

The CDC notes that using counseling and medication together gives the best chance of success, yet only 5.3% of Americans trying to quit in 2022 used both. In Ireland, the share of smokers who used no quitting aid at all rose from 48% in 2015 to 67% in the 2025 report.

There is no single right method. What the numbers show is that support is under-used. Campaigns can also prompt extra attempts, as our look at whether Stoptober works shows. For a wider look at what works, see our cessation statistics.

Many people find it easier to stay quit when they are not doing it alone. iQuit’s moderated community shares success stories and challenges, and its milestone badges and health-recovery timeline mark each step from day one toward the years-long streaks most ex-smokers now have.

How the Data Is Collected

All figures in this article come from national surveys and statistics pages we opened on 15 September 2026. Each country defines a former smoker a little differently.

• United States (CDC, National Health Interview Survey): a former smoker has smoked at least 100 cigarettes and does not smoke now. The quit ratio is former smokers divided by everyone who has ever smoked.
• Great Britain (ONS, Opinions and Lifestyle Survey): counts people aged 16+ who used to smoke regularly and do not smoke now, even occasionally.
• England (Annual Population Survey via OHID): ex-smokers and current smokers as shares of all adults aged 18+.
• Canada (Canadian Tobacco and Nicotine Survey): people aged 15+, collected from November 2022 to January 2023.
• Australia (ABS National Health Survey): an ex-smoker previously smoked daily, or smoked at least 100 cigarettes, or smoked pipes or cigars at least 20 times.
• Ireland (Healthy Ireland Survey): about 7,500 people aged 15+, interviewed by telephone.

No official source we found publishes a single count of US former smokers alongside the quit ratio for the same year, so we report the US figures as percentages. All survey data is self-reported.

Ex-Smoker Statistics FAQ