This dataset presents the age-adjusted death rates for the 10 leading causes of death in the United States beginning in 1999. Data are based on information from all resident death certificates filed in the 50 states and the District of Columbia using demographic and medical characteristics. Age-adjusted death rates (per 100,000 population) are based on the 2000 U.S. standard population. Populations used for computing death rates after 2010 are postcensal estimates based on the 2010 census, estimated as of July 1, 2010. Rates for census years are based on populations enumerated in the corresponding censuses. Rates for non-census years before 2010 are revised using updated intercensal population estimates and may differ from rates previously published. Causes of death classified by the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD–10) are ranked according to the number of deaths assigned to rankable causes. Cause of death statistics are based on the underlying cause of death. SOURCES CDC/NCHS, National Vital Statistics System, mortality data (see http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/deaths.htm); and CDC WONDER (see http://wonder.cdc.gov). REFERENCES National Center for Health Statistics. Vital statistics data available. Mortality multiple cause files. Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics. Available from: https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data_access/vitalstatsonline.htm. Murphy SL, Xu JQ, Kochanek KD, Curtin SC, and Arias E. Deaths: Final data for 2015. National vital statistics reports; vol 66. no. 6. Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics. 2017. Available from: https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr66/nvsr66_06.pdf.

This dataset includes count and age-adjusted rate per 100,000 population of mortality (death) in Virginia for 9 chronic conditions by year and by demographic groups (i.e., age, race/ethnicity, and sex). Age group values include 0 to 17 years, 18 to 44 years, 45 to 54 years, 55 to 64 years, 65 to 74 years, and 75+ years. Race/ethnicity values include American Indian or Alaska Native, Asian or Pacific Islander, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, and White. Sex values include female and male. Data set includes mortality data from 2016 to the most current year for Virginia residents.

The 9 chronic conditions include: Alzheimer’s Disease, Cardiovascular disease, Chronic Kidney Disease, Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, Asthma, Diabetes, Stroke, Heart Disease, and Hypertension. The International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10) codes are used to identify chronic disease mortality indicators. Definitions are based on Underlying Cause of Death on the death certificate outlined in the “Underlying Cause-of-Death List for Tabulating Mortality Statistics” instruction manual developed by the National Center for Health Statistics at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found here OCR Document (cdc.gov).

The National Death Index (NDI) is a centralized database of death record information on file in state vital statistics offices. Working with these state offices, the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) established the NDI as a resource to aid epidemiologists and other health and medical investigators with their mortality ascertainment activities.

Assists investigators in determining whether persons in their studies have died and, if so, provide the names of the states in which those deaths occurred, the dates of death, and the corresponding death certificate numbers. Investigators can then make arrangements with the appropriate state offices to obtain copies of death certificates or specific statistical information such as manner of death or educational level. Cause of death codes may also be obtained using the NDI Plus service.

Records from 1979 through 2011 are currently available and contain a standard set of identifying information on each death. Death records are added to the NDI file annually, approximately 12 months after the end of a particular calendar year. 2012 should be available summer 2014. Early Release Program for 2013 is now available.

The NDI service is available to investigators solely for statistical purposes in medical and health research. The service is not accessible to organizations or the general public for legal, administrative, or genealogy purposes.

This data visualization presents county-level provisional counts for drug overdose deaths based on a current flow of mortality data in the National Vital Statistics System. County-level provisional counts include deaths occurring within the 50 states and the District of Columbia, as of the date specified and may not include all deaths that occurred during a given time period. Provisional counts are often incomplete and causes of death may be pending investigation resulting in an underestimate relative to final counts (see Technical Notes).

The provisional data presented on the dashboard below include reported 12 month-ending provisional counts of death due to drug overdose by the decedent’s county of residence and the month in which death occurred.

Percentages of deaths with a cause of death pending further investigation and a note on historical completeness (e.g. if the percent completeness was under 90% after 6 months) are included to aid in interpretation of provisional data as these measures are related to the accuracy of provisional counts (see Technical Notes). Counts between 1-9 are suppressed in accordance with NCHS confidentiality standards. Provisional data presented on this page will be updated on a quarterly basis as additional records are received.

Technical Notes

Nature and Sources of Data

Provisional drug overdose death counts are based on death records received and processed by the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) as of a specified cutoff date. The cutoff date is generally the first Sunday of each month. National provisional estimates include deaths occurring within the 50 states and the District of Columbia. NCHS receives the death records from the state vital registration offices through the Vital Statistics Cooperative Program (VSCP).

The timeliness of provisional mortality surveillance data in the National Vital Statistics System (NVSS) database varies by cause of death and jurisdiction in which the death occurred. The lag time (i.e., the time between when the death occurred and when the data are available for analysis) is longer for drug overdose deaths compared with other causes of death due to the time often needed to investigate these deaths (1). Thus, provisional estimates of drug overdose deaths are reported 6 months after the date of death.

Provisional death counts presented in this data visualization are for “12 month-ending periods,” defined as the number of deaths occurring in the 12 month period ending in the month indicated. For example, the 12 month-ending period in June 2020 would include deaths occurring from July 1, 2019 through June 30, 2020. The 12 month-ending period counts include all seasons of the year and are insensitive to reporting variations by seasonality. These provisional counts of drug overdose deaths and related data quality metrics are provided for public health surveillance and monitoring of emerging trends. Provisional drug overdose death data are often incomplete, and the degree of completeness varies by jurisdiction and 12 month-ending period. Consequently, the numbers of drug overdose deaths are underestimated based on provisional data relative to final data and are subject to random variation.

Cause of Death Classification and Definition of Drug Deaths

Mortality statistics are compiled in accordance with the World Health Organizations (WHO) regulations specifying that WHO member nations classify and code causes of death with the current revision of the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems (ICD). ICD provides the basic guidance used in virtually all countries to code and classify causes of death. It provides not only disease, injury, and poisoning categories but also the rules used to select the single underlying cause of death for tabulation from the several diagnoses that may be reported on a single death certificate, as well as definitions, tabulation lists, the format of the death certificate, and regul

The Rufiji Health and Demographic Surveillance System (HDSS) was established in October 1998 to evaluate the impact on burden of disease of health system reforms based on locally generated data, prioritization, resource allocation and planning for essential health interventions. The Rufiji HDSS collects detailed information on health and survival and provides a framework for population-based health research of relevance to local and national health priorities. Monitoring of households and members within households is undertaken in regular 6-month cycles known as 'rounds'. Self-reported information is collected on demographic, household, socioeconomic and geographical characteristics. Verbal autopsies were done by trained Field interviewers to collect detailed data through structured and standardized INDEPTH Network verbal autopsy forms on symptoms and signs during the terminal illness, allowing assignment of cause of death following physician's review to a list of causes of death, based on the 10th Revision of the International Classification of Diseases. From 2008 to 2015 Rufiji HDSS recorded about 5500 deaths. About 90% of them were interviewed and assigned the underlying cause of death. The Ifakara Health Institute VA data portal will be periodically updated depending on the availability of new data from the field. Face-to-face interview At the initial census (October 1998-anuary 1999), all individuals who were intending to be resident in the DSA for at least 4 months were eligible for inclusion. Verbal consent to participate in the census was sought from the head of every household. Definitions of several characteristics such as household, membership, migration and head of household are set in order to correctly assign individuals or households to events or attributes. A household in Rufiji HDSS is defined as a group of individuals sharing, or who eat from, the same cooking pot. A member of the HDSS is defined as someone who has been resident in the DSA for the preceding 4 months. New members qualify to be an in-migrant if s/he moves into the Rufiji HDSS and spends at least 4 months there. Women married to men living in the Rufiji HDSS and children born to these women qualify to be members of the Rufiji HDSS. In the case of multiple wives, the husband will be registered as a permanent resident in only one household. He will be linked to other wives by his husband identification number given to his wives. After the census, the study population is visited three times a year in cycles or updated rounds over February-May, June-September and October-January to update indicators. From July 2013 onwards, Rufiji HDSS switched to two data collection rounds per year, which happen in July-December and January-June. Mapping of households and key structures such as schools, health facilities, markets, churches and mosques was done by field interviewers using handheld global positioning systems (GPS). Updating of GPS coordinates has been an ongoing exercise especially for new structures and for demolished structures. In 2012 the population size of the DSA was about 103 503 people, residing in 19 315 households. There are several ethnic groups in the DSA. The largest is the Ndengereko; other groups include the Matumbi, Nyagatwa, Ngindo, Pogoro and Makonde. The population comprises mainly Muslims with few Christians and followers of traditional religions. The main language spoken is Kiswahili. English is not commonly used in the area. Around 75% of the population aged 7-15 years have attended primary education, 14% of those in age group 15-65 years have secondary education and only 1% of the population has tertiary education. Almost 50% of the adult population aged 15-65 are self-employed in agriculture, 28% engage in other small economic activities, 16% are selfemployed in small-scale business and 6% are unemployed. Fuel wood is the main source of energy for cooking and shallow wells are the main source of water for domestic use. The household heads in Rufiji HDSS are considered as breadwinners and most (67.3%) are male. Active community engagement programmes are in place which include key informants (KIs) days, where the HDSS team convenes meetings with KIs for presentations on recent findings to feed back to community and for distribution of newsletters to households. Community sensitization events are held at the time of introducing new studies. These initiatives have cemented good relationships with the community and eventually maintained high participation. In Health and Demographic Surveillance System (HDSS), the follow-up of individuals aged 1559years was categorized into three periods: before ART (19982003), during ART scale-up (20042007), and after widespread availability of ART (20082011). Residents were those who never migrated within and beyond HDSS, internal migrants were those who moved within the HDSS, and external migrants were those who moved into the HDSS from outside. Mortality rates were estimated from deaths and person-years of observations calculated in each time period. Hazard ratios were estimated to compare mortality between migrants and residents. AIDS deaths were identified from verbal autopsy, and the odds ratio of dying from AIDS between migrants and residents was estimated using the multivariate logistic regression model.

The Detailed Mortality - Underlying Cause of Death data on CDC WONDER are county-level national mortality and population data spanning the years 1999-2009. Data are based on death certificates for U.S. residents. Each death certificate contains a single underlying cause of death, and demographic data. The number of deaths, crude death rates, age-adjusted death rates, standard errors and 95% confidence intervals for death rates can be obtained by place of residence (total U.S., region, state, and county), age group (including infants and single-year-of-age cohorts), race (4 groups), Hispanic ethnicity, sex, year of death, and cause-of-death (4-digit ICD-10 code or group of codes, injury intent and mechanism categories, or drug and alcohol related causes), year, month and week day of death, place of death and whether an autopsy was performed. The data are produced by the National Center for Health Statistics.

This dataset includes count and age-adjusted rate per 100,000 population of mortality (death) for 9 chronic conditions by year and by geography (i.e., the state and 35 health districts). Data set includes mortality data from 2016 to the most current year for Virginia residents.

The 9 chronic conditions include: Alzheimer’s Disease, Cardiovascular disease, Chronic Kidney Disease, Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, Asthma, Diabetes, Stroke, Heart Disease, and Hypertension. The International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10) codes are used to identify chronic disease mortality indicators. Definitions are based on Underlying Cause of Death on the death certificate outlined in the “Underlying Cause-of-Death List for Tabulating Mortality Statistics” instruction manual developed by the National Center for Health Statistics at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found on OCR Document (cdc.gov).

The leading causes of death in the United States are heart disease and cancer. However, in 2022, COVID-19 was the fourth leading cause of death in the United States, accounting for around six percent of all deaths that year. In 2022, there were around 45 deaths from COVID-19 per 100,000 population.

Cardiovascular disease

Deaths from cardiovascular disease are more common among men than women but have decreased for both sexes over the past few decades. Coronary heart disease accounts for the highest portion of cardiovascular disease deaths in the United States, followed by stroke and high blood pressure. The states with the highest death rates from cardiovascular disease include Oklahoma, Mississippi, and Alabama. Smoking tobacco, physical inactivity, poor diet, stress, and being overweight or obese are all risk factors for developing heart disease.

Cancer

Although cancer is the second leading cause of death in the United States, like deaths from cardiovascular disease, deaths from cancer have decreased over the last few decades. The highest death rates from cancer come from lung cancer for both men and women. Breast cancer is the second deadliest cancer for women, while prostate cancer is the second deadliest cancer for men. West Virginia, Mississippi, and Kentucky lead the nation with the highest cancer death rates.

Data for CDC’s COVID Data Tracker site on Rates of COVID-19 Cases and Deaths by Updated (Bivalent) Booster Status. Click 'More' for important dataset description and footnotes

Webpage: https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#rates-by-vaccine-status

Dataset and data visualization details:

These data were posted and archived on May 30, 2023 and reflect cases among persons with a positive specimen collection date through April 22, 2023, and deaths among persons with a positive specimen collection date through April 1, 2023. These data will no longer be updated after May 2023.

Vaccination status: A person vaccinated with at least a primary series had SARS-CoV-2 RNA or antigen detected on a respiratory specimen collected ≥14 days after verifiably completing the primary series of an FDA-authorized or approved COVID-19 vaccine. An unvaccinated person had SARS-CoV-2 RNA or antigen detected on a respiratory specimen and has not been verified to have received COVID-19 vaccine. Excluded were partially vaccinated people who received at least one FDA-authorized vaccine dose but did not complete a primary series ≥14 days before collection of a specimen where SARS-CoV-2 RNA or antigen was detected. A person vaccinated with a primary series and a monovalent booster dose had SARS-CoV-2 RNA or antigen detected on a respiratory specimen collected ≥14 days after verifiably receiving a primary series of an FDA-authorized or approved vaccine and at least one additional dose of any monovalent FDA-authorized or approved COVID-19 vaccine on or after August 13, 2021. (Note: this definition does not distinguish between vaccine recipients who are immunocompromised and are receiving an additional dose versus those who are not immunocompromised and receiving a booster dose.) A person vaccinated with a primary series and an updated (bivalent) booster dose had SARS-CoV-2 RNA or antigen detected in a respiratory specimen collected ≥14 days after verifiably receiving a primary series of an FDA-authorized or approved vaccine and an additional dose of any bivalent FDA-authorized or approved vaccine COVID-19 vaccine on or after September 1, 2022. (Note: Doses with bivalent doses reported as first or second doses are classified as vaccinated with a bivalent booster dose.) People with primary series or a monovalent booster dose were combined in the “vaccinated without an updated booster” category.

Deaths: A COVID-19–associated death occurred in a person with a documented COVID-19 diagnosis who died; health department staff reviewed to make a determination using vital records, public health investigation, or other data sources. Per the interim guidance of the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists (CSTE), this should include persons whose death certificate lists COVID-19 disease or SARS-CoV-2 as the underlying cause of death or as a significant condition contributing to death. Rates of COVID-19 deaths by vaccination status are primarily reported based on when the patient was tested for COVID-19. In select jurisdictions, deaths are included that are not laboratory confirmed and are reported based on alternative dates (i.e., onset date for most; or date of death or report date, where onset date is unavailable). Deaths usually occur up to 30 days after COVID-19 diagnosis.

Participating jurisdictions: Currently, these 24 health departments that regularly link their case surveillance to immunization information system data are included in these incidence rate estimates: Alabama, Arizona, Colorado, District of Columbia, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, New York City (NY), North Carolina, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, and West Virginia; 23 jurisdictions also report deaths among vaccinated and unvaccinated people. These jurisdictions represent 48% of the total U.S. population and all ten of the Health and Human Services Regions. This list will be

The information in this dataset is extracted from the Fairfax County (Virginia) Circuit Court Register of Deaths, 1853 to 1869. The records are part of a wider Fairfax Court Slavery Index project, which is housed at the Fairfax Circuit Court Historic Records Center in Fairfax, Virginia. The dataset includes information about, among other things, the names, ages, and causes of death of enslaved and free people who died in Fairfax, which allows for a comparison of mortality in the two populations. Data indicate that free (white) residents of Fairfax had, on average, longer life expectancies and lower rates of infant and childhood mortality than enslaved residents. Most enslaved people’s mothers are listed, allowing for the partial reconstruction of enslaved families.

BackgroundIn low-resource settings, it is challenging to ascertain the burden and causes of under-5 mortality as many deaths occur outside health facilities. We aimed to determine the causes of childhood deaths in rural Gambia using verbal autopsies (VA).MethodologyWe used WHO VA questionnaires to conduct VAs for deaths under-5 years of age in the Basse and Fuladu West Health and Demographic Surveillance Systems (HDSS) in rural Gambia between September 01, 2019, and December 31, 2021. Using a standardized cause of death list, two physicians assigned causes of death and discordant diagnoses were resolved by consensus.ResultsVAs were conducted for 89% (647/727) of deaths. Of these deaths, 49.5% (n = 319) occurred at home, 50.1% (n = 324) in females, and 32.3% (n = 209) in neonates. Acute respiratory infection including pneumonia (ARIP) (33.7%, n = 137) and diarrhoeal diseases (23.3%, n = 95) were the commonest primary causes of death in the post-neonatal period. In the neonatal period, unspecified perinatal causes of death (34.0%, n = 71) and deaths due to birth asphyxia (27.3%, n = 57) were the commonest causes of death. Severe malnutrition (28.6%, n = 185) was the commonest underlying cause of death. In the neonatal period, deaths due to birth asphyxia (p-value

BackgroundIn low-resource settings, it is challenging to ascertain the burden and causes of under-5 mortality as many deaths occur outside health facilities. We aimed to determine the causes of childhood deaths in rural Gambia using verbal autopsies (VA).MethodologyWe used WHO VA questionnaires to conduct VAs for deaths under-5 years of age in the Basse and Fuladu West Health and Demographic Surveillance Systems (HDSS) in rural Gambia between September 01, 2019, and December 31, 2021. Using a standardized cause of death list, two physicians assigned causes of death and discordant diagnoses were resolved by consensus.ResultsVAs were conducted for 89% (647/727) of deaths. Of these deaths, 49.5% (n = 319) occurred at home, 50.1% (n = 324) in females, and 32.3% (n = 209) in neonates. Acute respiratory infection including pneumonia (ARIP) (33.7%, n = 137) and diarrhoeal diseases (23.3%, n = 95) were the commonest primary causes of death in the post-neonatal period. In the neonatal period, unspecified perinatal causes of death (34.0%, n = 71) and deaths due to birth asphyxia (27.3%, n = 57) were the commonest causes of death. Severe malnutrition (28.6%, n = 185) was the commonest underlying cause of death. In the neonatal period, deaths due to birth asphyxia (p-value

West Virginia is currently the state with the highest drug overdose death rate in the United States, with 82 deaths per 100,000 population in 2023. Although West Virginia had the highest drug overdose death rate at that time, California was the state where the most people died from drug overdose. In 2023, around ****** people in California died from a drug overdose. The main perpetrator Opioids account for the majority of all drug overdose deaths in the United States. Opioids include illegal drugs such as heroin, legal prescription drugs like oxycodone, and illicitly manufactured synthetic drugs like fentanyl. The abuse of opioids has increased in recent years, leading to an increased number of drug overdose deaths. The death rate from heroin overdose hit an all-time high of *** per 100,000 population in 2016 and 2017, but has decreased in recent years. Now, illicitly manufactured synthetic opioids such as fentanyl account for the majority of opioid overdose deaths in the United States. Opioid epidemic The sharp rise in overdose deaths from opioids has led many to declare the United States is currently experiencing an opioid epidemic or opioid crisis. The causes of this epidemic are complicated but involve a combination of a rise in dispensed prescriptions, irresponsible marketing from pharmaceutical companies, a lack of physician-patient communication, increased social acceptance of prescription drugs, and an increased supply of cheap and potent heroin on the streets.

This series is the hard copy of the Death Register which was created from 1853 to 1990 when it was superseded by Lifedata, the computerised system of registration.

Each bound volume holds registration entries in numeric order by the registration number and is annotated on the spine with the number of the volume and the registration numbers of the entries bound therein.

Decentralised system of Registration, 1853 - 1960

Compulsory civil registration of Births, Marriages and Deaths in the State of Victoria began on 1 July 1853 with the proclamation of An Act for Registering Births, Deaths and Marriages in the Colony of Victoria (16 Vic., No.26). Prior to this, baptisms, marriages and burials were recorded by church authorities and are known as Early Church Records (refer VPRS 5479).

From 1873 to 1893 responsibility moved to the Office of the Registrar-General and the Office of Titles (VA 862) which were amalgamated when the administration of the Registrar-General's Department transferred to the Law Department (VA 2825).

In 1893 with the proclamation of the Births, Deaths and Marriages Act (56 Vic., No.1303) responsibility passed to the Office of Government Statist and Actuary (VA 989).

Metropolitan deaths were registered at the Registrar-General's Office and later at the Office of the Government Statist, 295 Queen Street, Melbourne. Deaths occurring in the country regions of the State were registered with the local Registrars who were appointed by the Registrar-General and later by Assistant Government Statist, and forwarded to head office each quarter at the end of March, June, September and December.

Centralised system of Registration, 1961 - ct

From 1893 until 1986, legislative responsibility for the registration of births, marriages and deaths was with the Office of the Government Statist and Actuary (VA 989). However in 1983 when this office was transferred to the Department of Management and Budget, operational responsibility remained with the Registrar of Births, Deaths and Marriages.

With the proclamation of the Registration of Births, Deaths and Marriages (Amendment) Act 1985 (No.10244) on 31 October 1986, legislative responsibility passed to the Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages (VA 983).

A centralised system of registration for Births and Deaths was introduced in 1961 when the previous system of registration by District Registrars was abandoned in favour of central registration through head office, at 295 Queen Street, Melbourne.

Information Forms for Birth and Death registrations were an integral part of the registration system (referVPRS 10262). In the case of deaths, Funeral Directors supplied the information form to the person arranging the funeral or a person with a knowledge of the facts who completed the form giving the necessary details for registration purposes and forwarded the form directly to the Office of the Government Statist, later the Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages, to effect registration of the death. These forms were signed attesting the information therein to be true and correct.

The Funeral Director was also obliged to complete a form giving details of the burial of the body and a Medical Practitioner or Coroner, as the case may be, authorised the burial by completing a Medical Certificate of Death or Order of Burial.

Registration of the death could not be effected until all of these papers had been received by the Government Statist or Registrar, as the position became known after the 1986 changes to the Act.

The forms were sorted daily in the following order:
- the date of death
- the place of death in alphabetical order by the name of the municipality where the death occurred

Following that sort the forms were then allocated a registration number and a registration entry was electronically made onto pre-printed forms for inclusion in the Register. These folios were bound in the Register according to registration number.

Information recorded in the Registers

The registration entries were recorded in the Register in numeric order by registration number and detail the following:
- full known name(s) of the deceased
- date of death
- place of death
- cause of death

and if known
- place of birth of the deceased
- parents' names
- mother's family surname
- father's occupation
- marriage details
- children born of the marriage
- name of the informant of the information recorded.

The deadliest school shooting in the United States as of August 11, 2025, was the Virginia Tech massacre, with 32 fatalities and 23 injuries. The next deadliest school shooting (based on fatalities) was the Sandy Hook Elementary massacre in Newtown, Connecticut, with 27 fatalities. School shootings in the U.S. Mass shootings in the United States have become a disturbingly common occurrence, and sadly, so have school shootings. The Columbine school shooting is perhaps the most famous in the country’s history, and since 1999 (when the shooting occurred), the number of school shootings has only increased. Many measures have been used to try to prevent school shootings, including security guards and metal detectors being deployed in schools, and even the suggestion that teachers be allowed to carry guns in schools. Gun control Gun control in the United States is a sticky issue, since gun ownership is enshrined in the Constitution. Some advocate for stricter gun control laws to try to prevent future mass shootings, while others say that this is unconstitutional. Gun ownership rates in the U.S. are high, with the share of American households owning at least one firearm remaining relatively steady since 1972.

As of 2023, the U.S. states with the highest smoking rates included West Virginia, Tennessee, and Louisiana. In West Virginia, around 20 percent of all adults smoked as of this time. The number of smokers in the United States has decreased over the past decades. Who smokes? The smoking rates for both men and women have decreased for many years, but men continue to smoke at higher rates than women. As of 2021, around 13 percent of men were smokers compared to 10 percent of women. Concerning race and ethnicity, smoking is least prevalent among Asians with just five percent of this population smoking compared to 13 percent of non-Hispanic whites. Health impacts of smoking The negative health impacts of smoking are vast. Smoking increases the risk of heart disease, stroke, and many different types of cancers. For example, smoking is estimated to be attributable to 81 percent of all deaths from lung cancer among adults 30 years and older in the United States. Smoking is currently the leading cause of preventable death in the United States.