Since 1945, the year for which reliable prevalence data was first made available and published, men's smoking rates have declined dramatically. Adult women have always had a lower prevalence of smoking than men, and this was still seen in 1992. Over the last 47 years the prevalence of smoking among women has changed little, although the most recent surveys have shown that the proportion of women smoking is in decline, with a significant decrease seen between 1989 and 1992 (Table 1.1). (3,4,5,6) The most recent survey has failed to find a continuing decline in smoking prevalence seen in previous surveys.(6a)
Table 1.1: Percentage of smokers * among adult Australians | ||
Year |
Male |
Female |
% of population | ||
1945 |
72 |
26 |
1964 |
58 |
28 |
1969 |
45 |
28 |
1974 |
45 |
30 |
1976 |
43 |
33 |
1980 |
41 |
31 |
1983 |
40 |
31 |
1986 |
33 |
29 |
1989 |
30 |
27 |
1992 |
28 |
24 |
1995 |
27 |
23 |
* Includes cigarette, pipe and cigar smokers. See Table 2.7 in the following chapter for breakdown of smoking prevalence by type of tobacco used. Source: Woodward,3 Hill et al,4,5 Hill and White,6 Hill et al 6a | ||