2.6 Personal expenditure on tobacco products

National accounts data indicate that total national household expenditure on tobacco products has increased steeply since 1964, in both absolute and in real terms - refer columns 2 and 3, Table 2.11. On a per capita basis, expenditure also appears to have increased greatly - column 5, though increases have been quite small in real terms - column 6. However, these figures do not take into account cigarette prices.

The retail price of tobacco has risen dramatically over the past decade. Tobacco price comprises several variable components. Most volatile of these are the two layers of taxation levied by the federal and state or territory governments. Movements in taxation rates have been responsible for major increases in the end price to the consumer (see Chapter 7 for detailed discussion). The relative effects of these two mitigating (and interacting) forces, of consumption patterns and of final cost to the consumer, is seen in the final column of the Table, with a price - adjusted per capita expenditure more than halving over the past 20 years.

Table 2.11: Per capita private final consumption expenditure on tobacco products
Year	Expenditure	Expenditure at 1989-90 prices	Expenditure at 1989-90 tobacco prices	Per capita expenditure at 1989-90 prices	Per capita expenditure at 1989-90 cigarette prices
1964	358	2548		$ 32.65
1965	392	2679		$ 33.56
1966	428	2830		$ 34.60
1967	443	2856		$ 34.23
1968	472	2950		$ 34.62
1969	482	2923		$ 33.54
1970	512	2999		$ 33.69
1971	559	3114		$ 33.41
1972	608	3180		$ 33.43
1973	668	3230	4522	$ 33.32	$ 46.66
1974	745	3142	4561	$ 31.75	$ 46.08
1975	881	3180	4531	$ 31.57	$ 44.98
1976	1069	3446	4418	$ 33.63	$ 43.12
1977	1170	3322	4419	$ 31.85	$ 42.38
1978	1185	3114	4337	$ 29.34	$ 40.85
1979	1345	3251	4338	$ 30.11	$ 40.18
1980	1465	3195	4348	$ 29.09	$ 39.58
1981	1581	3171	4461	$ 28.32	$ 39.84
1982	1740	3151	4527	$ 27.55	$ 39.57
1983	1886	3073	4190	$ 26.40	$ 35.99
1984	2200	3448	4037	$ 29.11	$ 34.09
1985	2389	3513	3999	$ 29.12	$ 33.15
1986	2657	3602	3981	$29.24	$ 32.32
1987	3000	3723	4013	$ 29.60	$ 31.91
1988	3247	3761	4010	$ 29.30	$ 31.25
1989	3555	3828	4008	$ 29.24	$ 30.62
1990	3975	3975	3975	$ 29.86	$ 29.86
1991	4350	4206	3855	$ 31.16	$ 28.56
1992	4471	4271	3605	$31.22	$ 26.36
1993	5037	4724	3372	$ 34.16	$ 24.38
1994	5349	4931	3128	$ 35.23	$ 22.35
1995	5498	4850	2954	$ 34.19	$ 20.83
1996	6193	5299	2779	$36.80	$ 19.30
1997	6657	5677	2868	$ 38.87	$ 19.64
1998	6663	5644	2778	$38.11	$ 18.75
1999	6607	5537	2650	$36.87	$17.64
2000	6831	5548	2546	$36.41	$16.71
Sources Expenditure ABS Cat no. 5204.0 Australian National Accounts Population Supplied electronically by ABS March 1998, post-census adjusted CPI Supplied electronically by ABS September 1998, 1989-90 = 100