Smoking rates

Australian adult smoking rates

Smoking rates among adults in Australia and Victoria have declined over the past two to three decades.  Per capita cigarette consumption in Australia has also declined since the mid 1970s.  In the latest Australian survey, the age group of 24-29 year olds had the highest rate of smoking.  A higher percentage of Australian men smoke compared to women in all age groups.   People in less wealthy socio-economic groups have higher smoking rates.  Past surveys have shown that people with less education have higher smoking rates.

Australian secondary school student rates

Smoking rates for Australian and Victorian secondary school students had not shown a clear trend either up or down for the past two decades. However, since 2002, the surveys show decreases in the smoking rates for Australian school students and for Victorian school students.  In 2005, smoking rates were the lowest in the history of these surveys, except for 16 to 17 year old Victorian male students.

Social costs of tobacco

In 2004/05 the total social costs of tobacco use in Australia were $31.5 billion. This includes costs to government, business and smokers and their families.

Interest in quitting

A composite measure of quitting intentions and behaviour shows a progression towards stopping smoking.

International smoking rates

A sample of smoking rates have been provided for adults and youth from different countries, however they should not be directly compared as they are taken from different years using different age groups and data collection techniques.