Contains key statistics and information about smoking and vaping and its prevalence within Australia
These statistics form part of the National Health Survey 2022. More information on other topics of interest from the survey are available on the National Health Survey 2022 page.
This statistical release was previously published under the title Smoking.
Tobacco smoking is one of the largest preventable causes of death and disease in Australia. Smoking is estimated to kill almost 20,500 Australians a year (13% of all deaths) and was responsible for 8.6% of the total burden of disease in Australia in 2018[1]. It is associated with an increased risk of health conditions including heart disease, diabetes, stroke, cancer, kidney disease, eye disease and respiratory conditions such as asthma, emphysema and bronchitis[2].
There have been a range of tobacco control policies implemented in Australia since 1973 aimed at reducing smoking rates through measures such as taxation on tobacco products, restrictions on advertising, smoke-free laws in certain locations, information and warnings on tobacco packaging and mass media educational campaigns[3]. These policy interventions align with recommendations from the 2003 World Health Organisation (WHO) Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), of which Australia is a signatory[4]. The proportion of adults who are current daily smokers has decreased over the past several decades, from 23.8% in 1995 to 10.6% in 2022[5].
One in ten (10.6%) adults aged 18 years and over were current daily smokers in 2022, this rate has steadily declined over the last twenty years from 22.4% in 2001.
The decline in the proportion of current daily smokers over the last decade is driven by those aged under 55 years. For those aged 55 years and over, the proportion of current daily smokers has remained steady.
Males were more likely than females to be current daily smokers (12.6% compared to 8.7%). One in fourteen (7.3%) young adults aged 18–24 years were current daily smokers – this proportion gradually increased with age to peak among those aged 55–64 years (14.9%).
In 2022:
Most (94.1%) young people aged 15–17 years reported that they had never smoked in 2022. This has increased over the last decade from 89.9% in 2011–12.
In 2022, adults:
An e-cigarette is a device that heats a liquid to produce vapours that users inhale. E-cigarette use is also commonly referred to as vaping[6]. Liquids used in e-cigarettes may contain nicotine and other toxic chemicals. There is evidence that the regular use of e-cigarettes could lead to adverse health consequences[7].
One in seven (14.4%) adults had used e-cigarette and vaping devices at least once in their life, while 4.0% reported currently using a device:
Of those adults who were current daily smokers in 2022:
One in six (17.9%) young people aged 15–17 years had used e-cigarette or vaping devices. Almost two in five (38.0%) young adults aged 18–24 years had also used e-cigarette or vaping devices, use of these devices then declined with age.
One in fourteen (6.8%) young people aged 15–17 years reported currently using e-cigarette or vaping devices. This then peaked at almost one in ten (9.3%) young adults aged 18–24 years and then declined with age.
Children aged 15–17 years may answer for themselves if a parent or guardian gives permission. Otherwise, a parent or guardian who knows the most about the child’s health is the most appropriate person to answer the survey questions on the child’s behalf. Under-reporting of smoking rates and e-cigarette or vaping device use in young people may have occurred because responses were provided by an adult living in the same household (for 61.9% of young people aged 15–17 years). Reporting rates may also have been impacted by reluctance to report smoking and e-cigarette or vaping device use when other household members were present.
See the National Health Survey 2022 data downloads for the full suite of available data. Data relating to Smoking and vaping can be found in tables:
See National Health Survey 2022 media release for more information.
Includes:
The data available includes estimates for:
The National Health Survey conducted by the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
Medications data from the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme.
Face-to-face interview with an Australian Bureau of Statistics Interviewer.
Linkage to the Person Level Integrated Data Asset.
Health conditions are presented using a classification which is based on the 10th revision of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10).