See this visualization first on the Voronoi app.
Use This Visualization
Ranked: How Smoking Raises the Risk of Death by Disease
This was originally posted on our Voronoi app. Download the app for free on iOS or Android and discover incredible data-driven charts from a variety of trusted sources.
Key Takeaways
- An American man who smokes is 21x more likely to die from lung cancer than one who doesn’t.
- Death from other cancers in the airways and digestive system are also 2–9x higher.
Smoking remains one of the most studied—and preventable—health risks.
The infographic ranks how much smoking multiplies the likelihood of dying from 17 major diseases.
Data for this visualization comes from Our World in Data.
It examines long-term studies of American male smokers compared with nonsmokers and shows how the habit magnifies mortality across cancers, heart disease, and respiratory disorders.
Lung Cancer: The Stand-Out Risk from Smoking
It is no surprise that lung cancer tops the list.
Lighting up raises the chance of dying from this cancer 21 times higher than for never-smokers.
| Rank | Cause of Death | Increased Risk of Death For Smokers |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lung cancer | 21.3x |
| 2 | Chronic lung damage (COPD) |
10.8x |
| 3 | Mouth & throat cancer |
8.8x |
| 4 | Stroke | 3.1x |
| 5 | Ischemic heart disease |
3.0x |
| 6 | Bladder cancer | 3.0x |
| 7 | Kidney & urinary cancers |
2.5x |
| 8 | Liver cancer | 2.5x |
| 9 | Pancreas cancer | 2.2x |
| 10 | Stomach cancer | 2.2x |
| 11 | Other cardiovascular diseases |
2.1x |
| 12 | Hypertensive disease | 2.0x |
| 13 | Other respiratory diseases |
1.9x |
| 14 | Blood cancer | 1.9x |
| 15 | Tuberculosis | 1.6x |
| 16 | Diabetes | 1.4x |
| 17 | Colorectal cancer | 1.3x |
That jump dwarfs all other causes and underscores why tobacco control campaigns still focus on tar-scarred lungs.
Even cancers in adjacent tissues, such as the mouth, throat, and bladder, see death rates 3–9x higher because of direct smoke contact and carcinogen build-up.
Smoking’s Damage Beyond the Airways
While cancer grabs headlines, circulation-related illnesses collectively claim more smokers.
Ischemic heart disease and stroke risks triple, largely because nicotine and other chemicals stiffen arteries, raise blood pressure, and thicken blood.
Chronic exposure also inflames vessel walls, helping explain the 2.1x rise in “other cardiovascular diseases” and the 2x increase in hypertensive deaths.
These numbers highlight that quitting delivers cardiovascular benefits within just a few smoke-free years, often faster than cancer risks decline.
Metabolic and Infectious Threats From Smoking Often Overlooked
Smoking even nudges up deaths far outside the respiratory or circulatory systems.
People who smoke are 30–40% likelier to develop Type 2 diabetes, as cigarettes exacerbate insulin resistance.
Tuberculosis, once thought a relic of the past in rich countries, still kills 1.6c more smokers, in part because smoke weakens immune defenses in the lungs.
Taken together, these smaller multipliers add thousands of avoidable deaths each year.
Learn More on the Voronoi App
For more health-related coverage, check out Life Expectancy by Country (2025) on Voronoi, the new app from Visual Capitalist.