Tobacco use is the leading preventable cause of death.

Worldwide, tobacco use causes more than 5 million deaths per year, and current trends show that tobacco use will cause more than 8 million deaths annually by 2030.

In the United States, tobacco use is responsible for about one in five deaths annually (i.e., about 443,000 deaths per year, and an estimated 49,000 of these tobacco-related deaths are the result of secondhand smoke exposure.

On average, smokers die 13 to 14 years earlier than nonsmokers.

- Data from http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/fact_sheets/fast_facts/index.htm