More and more Americans are putting out their cigarettes for good.
In 2015, just 15.1 percent of American adults were smokers, a decline of almost 2 percentage points compared to 2014, according to a report released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The last decline that significant was from 1992 to 1993. The smoking rate has declined almost every year since 1997, when almost 25 percent of U.S. adults said they smoked.
The decline comes with an increase in public awareness campaigns about the health hazards of smoking as well as the growing popularity of e-cigarettes, which are often marketed as a safer alternative to typical cigarettes — although some studies suggest they don't actually help people quit, and there isn't a consensus on whether they're harmful to a person's health.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced earlier this year that e-cigarettes will be subject to federal regulation.
Smoking is the leading cause of preventable death in the U.S., with more than 480,000 deaths each year.
This video includes clips from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and BBC and images from Getty Images. Music courtesy of APM Music.
