Annual Smoking-Attributable Mortality, Years of Potential Life Lost, and Productivity Losses—United States, 1997–2001

July 1, 2005 / Vol. 54 / No. 25

MMWR Introduction

According to the article, “Annual Smoking-Attributable Mortality, Years of Potential Life Lost, and Productivity Losses—United States, 1997–2001,” released in the July 1, 2005, issue of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) journal, Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, smoking cost the nation about $92 billion in the form of lost productivity in 1997–2001, up about $10 billion from the annual mortality related productivity losses for the years 1995–1999.

The new lost productivity estimate, when combined with smoking-related health-care costs, which was reported at $75.5 billion in 1998, exceeds $167 billion per year in the United States. The report also finds that during 1997–2001 an estimated 438,000 premature deaths occur each year as a result of smoking and exposure to secondhand smoke. In comparison, approximately 440,000 smoking-related deaths were estimated to have occurred annually from 1995–1999.