It is understood that the forward-backward probability hypothesis density (PHD) smoothing algorithms proposed recently can significantly improve state estimation of targets. However, our analyses in this paper show that they cannot give a good cardinality (i.e., the number of targets) estimate. This is because backward smoothing ignores the effect of temporary track drop- ping caused by forward filtering and/or anomalous smoothing resulted from deaths of targets. To cope with such a problem, a novel PHD smoothing algorithm, called the variable-lag PHD smoother, in which a detection process used to identify whether the filtered cardinality varies within the smooth lag is added before backward smoothing, is developed here. The analytical results show that the proposed smoother can almost eliminate the influences of temporary track dropping and anomalous smoothing, while both the cardinality and the state estimations can significantly be improved. Simulation results on two multi-target tracking scenarios verify the effectiveness of the proposed smoother. However, our analyzes in this paper show that they can not give a good cardinality (ie, the number of targets) estimate . This is because backward smoothing ignores the effect of temporary track drop-ping caused by forward filtering and / or anomalous smoothing resulted from deaths of targets. To cope with such a problem, a novel PHD smoothing algorithm, called the variable-lag PHD smoother , in which a detection process used to identify whether the filtered cardinality varies within the smooth lag is added before backward smoothing, is developed here. The analytical results show that the proposed smoother can almost eliminate the influences of temporary track dropping and anomalous smoothing, while both the cardinality and the state estimations can significantly be improved. Simulation results on two multi-target tr acking scenarios verify the effectiveness of the proposed smoother.