SMOKING

Tobacco smoking is one of the largest preventable causes of death and disease in Australia[1]. It is associated with an increased risk of a wide range of health conditions, including heart disease, diabetes, stroke, cancer, renal disease, eye disease and respiratory conditions such as asthma, emphysema and bronchitis. Tobacco was responsible for 7.8% of the total burden of disease and injury in Australia in 2003, equivalent to around 15,000 deaths per year[2], and was estimated to cost Australia $31.5 billion in social (including health) and economic costs in 2004-05[3].

Adults 18 years and over

In 2014-15, 14.5% of adults aged 18 years and over were daily smokers (2.6 million adults), down from 16.1% in 2011-12. This decrease is a continuation of the trend over the past two decades. In 2001, 22.4% of adults smoked daily while 23.8% of adults smoked daily in 1995.

Men have been consistently more likely to smoke daily than women. In 2014-15, 16.9% of males and 12.1% of women smoked daily, with a similar but higher pattern in 1995 (27.3% of men compared with 20.3% of women).



The following graph shows decreases in daily smoking rates across age and sex from 1995 to 2014-15.



In particular, rates of daily smoking have decreased considerably amongst younger adults since 2001, while rates for older adults have also decreased but to a lesser extent. In 2001, 28.2% of 18-44 year olds smoked daily, decreasing to 16.3% in 2014-15. Of adults aged 45 years and over, 15.9% smoked daily in 2001, decreasing to 12.7% in 2014-15.



A further 1.5% of adults smoked less often than daily in 2014-15, while nearly one third (31.4%) were ex-smokers and just over half (52.6%) had never smoked.

Similar to 2011-12, the Northern Territory had the highest rate of daily smokers (20.9%) in 2014-15, followed by Tasmania (17.9%). The Australian Capital Territory had the lowest rate of daily smokers in 2014-15 (12.4%).

In 2014-15, people living in Outer Regional and Remote areas of Australia had higher rates of daily smoking (20.9%) than people in Inner Regional areas (16.7%) or Major Cities (13.0%). While rates of daily smoking have decreased across all remoteness areas over the past 10-15 years, the rate for Outer Regional and Remote areas is only now similar to that of Major Cities a decade ago (19.9% in 2004-05).



Rates of smoking are also considerably higher amongst people living in areas of Australia with the most disadvantage. In 2014-15, 21.4% of people living in areas of most disadvantage (first quintile) smoked daily, compared with 8.0% of people living in areas of the least disadvantage (fifth quintile). Rates of smoking have decreased over the past decade in all quintiles of disadvantage.



Persons 15-17 years

In 2014-15, 2.7% of 15-17 year olds were daily smokers, similar to 2011-12 (4.2%). A further 0.5% smoked less often than daily, 1.8% were ex-smokers, and 94.2% reported that they had never smoked.

Some under-reporting of persons identifying as current smokers may have occurred due to social pressures, particularly in cases where other household members were present at the interview.

ENDNOTES

1 Department of Health, 'Tobacco control' <http://www.health.gov.au/internet/main/publishing.nsf/content/tobacco>; last accessed 03/12/2015.
2 Begg S, Vos T, Barker B, Stevenson C, Stanley L and Lopez AD 2007. The Burden of Disease and Injury in Australia 2003, AIHW cat. no. PHE 82, Canberra: Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, <http://www.aihw.gov.au/publication-detail/?id=6442467990>; last accessed 03/12/2015.
3 Collins D & Lapsley H 2008. The Costs of Tobacco, Alcohol and Illicit Drug Abuse to Australian Society in 2004/05 - Summary version, National Drug Strategy Monograph series no. 66, Canberra: DoHA, <http://www.nationaldrugstrategy.gov.au/internet/drugstrategy/publishing.nsf/Content/mono66/$File/mono66.pdf>; last accessed 03/12/2015.