• Health expectancy
• Life expectancy
• Suicide
• Cigarette smoking
• Obesity

Cigarette smoking

Relevance

Tobacco smoking is a well-recognised risk factor for many cancers and for respiratory and cardiovascular diseases. In addition, exposure to environmental tobacco smoke (particularly maternal smoking) has been identified as a major risk factor for Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) and respiratory problems in children. Internationally, smoking has been identified as the major cause of preventable death in Organisation for Economic Co-operation & Development (OECD) countries.²³

Current level and trends

In 2004, 23 percent of New Zealanders aged 15 years and over were cigarette smokers, a decrease from 2003 when the rate was 25 percent.²⁴ It is too early to determine whether this change represents a downward trend, however. Smoking has declined from 30 percent in 1986, with most of the decline occurring between 1987 and 1991.

Figure H4.1 Cigarette smoking, 1986–2004

Source: Ministry of Health (2005) Table A2

Age and sex differences

Smoking rates for females and males have been similar since the mid-1980s. Over the 1990s, both sexes became less likely to smoke. In 2004, 24 percent of males and 22 percent of females smoked. Females are slightly more likely than males to smoke at ages 15–34, but those aged 35 years and over are less likely to smoke than males.

Smoking is most prevalent among people aged 25–34 years, followed by those aged 15–24 years and those aged 35–54 years. People aged 55 years and over are much less likely to smoke and have experienced the greatest decline in smoking prevalence over the past 20 years. Between 2002 and 2004, however, the biggest drop in smoking was among those aged 15–24 years. Smoking levels in this age group fell from 32 percent to 25 percent for young men, and from 33 percent to 29 percent for young women.

Ethnic differences

Māori women have the highest smoking rates (48 percent), followed by Māori men (39 percent). Among Pacific peoples, smoking is more prevalent among men (32 percent) than among women (22 percent).

Since 1990, smoking prevalence has declined by five percentage points for European and Other ethnic groups and by four and three percentage points for Māori and Pacific peoples respectively.²⁵

Table H4.1 Age-standardised prevalence of cigarette smoking, by sex and ethnicity, 2004

Source: Ministry of Health (2005) Table 1
Note: Rates are age-standardised using the WHO world population

Socio-economic differences

Smoking is more prevalent among those with lower incomes, beneficiaries and those living in the most deprived areas. An analysis of 1996 Census data shows that the proportion of smokers in the most deprived (decile 10) areas is two to three times the proportion of smokers in the least deprived (decile 1) areas for all age groups, and for both sexes.²⁶

International comparison

In a 2003 comparison of adult smoking, New Zealand had a rate of 25 percent, compared with an OECD median of 27 percent.²⁷ New Zealand ranked 11th highest out of 28 OECD countries. Smoking prevalence was highest in Greece (35 percent in 2000). New Zealand's rate was slightly better than that of the United Kingdom (26 percent), but considerably worse than those of Australia (20 percent in 2001), the United States (18 percent) and Canada (17 percent). Compared to other developed countries, New Zealand's smoking levels are relatively low for males and relatively high for females.²⁸

Tobacco consumption

Tobacco consumption, measured from customs data or tobacco company returns, complements the smoking prevalence data above to provide a different perspective on tobacco use. In 2005, tobacco consumption was 1,033 cigarette equivalents per person aged 15 years and over, up from 999 in 2004.

Since 1990, tobacco consumption has decreased from 1,971 cigarette equivalents per person, or by 48 percent. Over this period, the drop in tobacco consumption has been more rapid than the drop in smoking prevalence.

Figure H4.2 Tobacco consumption, cigarette equivalents per person aged 15 years and over, 1990–2005

Source: Ministry of Health