Smoking rates in Australia

Percentage of adult smokers*

Current smokers are defined as persons who smoke daily or at least weekly.

This table shows the changing pattern in smoking rates over the years, from the 1940s, when about 70% of men smoked, to 2007 when 21% of men and 18% of women smoked. The figures are taken from a few different surveys, which may not be based on the same definitions of smoking, age ranges or calculation methods, so earlier figures cannot be directly compared. However, the smoking rates from 1980 to 2007 are subject to a standard method and can be directly compared.

Smoking by men has declined substantially since 1945. Smoking by women peaked in the 1970s, and then declined at a slower rate than men's smoking.  Following a period of almost no change in smoking rates in the 1990s, smoking rates again declined over the turn of the century. Breakdowns by age groups show that in 2007, men and women between the ages of 25-29 had the highest smoking rates (28%).

Smoking rates among Australian adults 1980-2007 

Source: Centre for Behavioural Research in Cancer, published in Tobacco in Australia: Facts & Issues, 3^rd ed.

References

1. Winstanley M, White V. Chapter 1. Trends in the prevalence of smoking. In: Scollo MM, Winstanley MH, eds. Tobacco in Australia: Facts and Issues. 3rd ed. Melbourne: Cancer Council Victoria; 2008. http://www.tobaccoinaustralia.org.au/chapter-1-prevalence. Accessed January 22, 2009.