Which has higher number of daily smokers, Russian Federation or United States?

Russian Federation, at 38.56 million against 38.33 million in United States as of 2012.

What is the difference in number of daily smokers between Russian Federation and United States?

234,000, with Russian Federation ahead.

How many years of comparable data are there for Russian Federation and United States?

33 years are reported by both, from 1980 to 2012.

Where does this data come from?

IHME (2012) – processed by Our World in Data, published as Number of daily smokers. Statizoid refreshes it automatically from the source and publishes the full history for both places.

Russian Federation vs United States: Number of daily smokers

Russian Federation

38.56 million

in 2012

United States

38.33 million

in 2012

Russian Federation rank

4th

United States rank

5th

Number of daily smokers over time

Russian Federation
United States

How they compare

Russian Federation currently reports 38.56 million against 38.33 million in United States, a difference of 234,000.

The two have swapped places 1 time across 33 shared years of data; in 1980 it was United States ahead.

Russian Federation ranks 4th and United States ranks 5th of 186 countries.

United States has averaged higher in every one of the 4 decades both report.

Head to head by decade

Decade	Russian Federation	United States	Difference	Ahead
1980s	38.03 million	50.84 million	12.81 million	United States
1990s	37.75 million	45.19 million	7.44 million	United States
2000s	36.42 million	41.86 million	5.44 million	United States
2010s	38.23 million	38.87 million	636,700	United States

Averages of every year both report within each decade.

Frequently asked questions

Which has higher number of daily smokers, Russian Federation or United States?: Russian Federation, at 38.56 million against 38.33 million in United States as of 2012.
What is the difference in number of daily smokers between Russian Federation and United States?: 234,000, with Russian Federation ahead.
How many years of comparable data are there for Russian Federation and United States?: 33 years are reported by both, from 1980 to 2012.
How do Russian Federation and United States rank globally for number of daily smokers?: Russian Federation ranks 4th and United States ranks 5th of 186 countries.
Where does this data come from?: IHME (2012) – processed by Our World in Data, published as Number of daily smokers. Statizoid refreshes it automatically from the source and publishes the full history for both places.

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Russian Federation vs United States: Number of daily smokers. Statizoid, drawing on IHME (2012) – processed by Our World in Data. Retrieved 30 August 2026, from https://reference.statizoid.com/compare/number-of-total-daily-smokers/russian-federation/united-states/

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About this data

Indicator: Number of daily smokers
Source: IHME (2012) – processed by Our World in Data
Licence: CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage: 186 places, 6,138 data points, 1980–2012
Last refreshed: 28 August 2026

Estimates of the total number of people who smoke cigarettes at least daily (across men and women of all ages).