FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (KNWA/KFTA) — According to the World Health Organization, 22.3% of the world’s population uses tobacco.
The website niceRX.com recently conducted a study to determine which US states have the highest smoking rates and the most smoking-caused deaths, and The Natural State ranked poorly in both categories. Arkansas tied for 6th for the highest smoking rate at 20.2%, and it had the 3rd highest number of smoking deaths per capita.
West Virginia had the highest smoking rate at 23.8%, followed by Kentucky, Louisiana, Ohio and Mississippi. Arkansas and Alabama are tied for 6th place. Massachusetts, California and Utah had the lowest rates.
West Virginia also had the highest number of smoking-related deaths per capita, with 241 per 100,000 people in 2019. Kentucky was second (197) and Arkansas was third (192). Colorado, Alaska and Utah had the fewest smoking-related deaths per 100,000 people. West Virginia had more than six times as many smoking deaths per capita as Utah in 2019.
The United States had the 31st highest number of smoking deaths per capita compared to other countries in the world. Serbia, Bulgaria and Montenegro had the most.
The full results of the report are available here.