What percentage of people smoke?

Answer 1

As of 2014 almost 20% of the world population smokes tobacco.

The rates are quite different in different countries, and different areas of each country however. For instance, in the US the percentage is lower. The CDC says about 15% (2015). Inside the US, states range from 9.1% in Utah to 25.9% in Kentucky (2015 numbers from the CDC).

Additionally, smoking is generally 5 times higher among men than among women, and people with lower socioeconomic status tend to smoke more.

According to Wikipedia, the country with the highest number of cigarettes per person is Montenegro (2017 numbers), and the country with the highest age-standardized prevalence of tobacco smoking is Kiribati (2015 numbers).

Answer 2

In the U.S., approximately 20-25% of the adult population, over 18 years of age, are habitual smokers (with the percentage varying depending upon the study cited).