2.5 Consumption patterns by pack size

In recent years tobacco manufacturers have introduced larger pack sizes. These result in cost savings for the tobacco companies, and less expensive cigarettes (per stick) for the consumer (see Chapter 5, Section 2; Chapter 7, Section 5 and Chapter 14, Section 12 for further discussion). Table 2.8 shows that packs of 25 are the most popular in the market place, and have been for more than a decade. Packs containing fewer than 25 seem to be losing popularity, while packs containing 40 or more cigarettes are gaining market share.(31)

Larger packs (30s and 35s) are more commonly purchased by those in lower blue collar occupations and with lower attained education levels.(10,11) Both adults and schoolchildren who purchase the larger sized packs of cigarettes also show a higher daily consumption (see Tables 2.9 and 2.10 below).(9,10, 11, 29, 33) This may reflect the fact that larger packs of cigarettes generally contain smaller, lighter cigarettes (see also Section 2.1 above).

Table 2.9: Mean weekly consumption by usual pack size among adult smokers, 1989, 1992, 1996, 1999
Pack size	1989	1992	1996	1999
Cigarettes per day
20s	15	13	13	13
25s	18	17	16	16
30s	22	20	17	20
35s	25	24	23	18
40s	34	24	23	19
50s	n/a	26	25	24
Source: Hill et al,9 Hill and White, 10 Hill, White and Scollo, 11 CBRC, unpublished data

Table 2.10: Mean weekly consumption by usual pack size among schoolchildren aged 12-17 who smoked in the last week, 1990, 1993, 1996
	1990		1993		1996
Pack size	Cigarettes per week
	Males	Females	Males	Females	Males	Females
20s	22	14	17	14
25s	33	22	25	22
30s	31	26	34	29
40s	41	42	40	31
Source: Hill et al, 29 White, 33