Tobacco

Tobacco is an Australia's health topic

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Introduction What data sources are available? What do we know about tobacco availability in Australia? What do we know about people who use tobacco? What are the harms associated with tobacco use? How many people quit smoking or receive treatment for tobacco use? Where do I go for more information?

Introduction

The use of tobacco in Australia, while gradually declining, continues to be a leading risk factor for disease burden (AIHW 2024a). Tobacco use contributes to a range of health-related harms in Australia, including cancer and chronic lung conditions (AIHW 2024a). Tobacco use also incurs significant social costs. The estimated social cost of tobacco was $155.4 billion in 2020–21, projected to rise to $159.7 billion in 2022–23 (Gadsden et al. 2024, Table 1). The most significant projected costs for 2022–23 were related to premature mortality ($107.5 billion), smoking attributable ill–health ($29.8 billion), and health care ($7.9 billion) (Gadsden et al. 2024, Figure 3).

There has been a long-term commitment to addressing the harms associated with tobacco smoking in Australia through a range of measures such as taxation on tobacco products, restrictions on advertising, and the prohibition of smoking in certain locations. This has contributed to the rate of smoking among the general population declining over time (Figure 1).

Figure 1: People aged 14 and over who smoke dailyab and key tobacco control measures in Australia, 1990 to 2024

This figure shows the daily smoking proportion for people aged 14 and over and key national tobacco policy implementation points (such as tobacco tax increases and health campaigns) over time. The proportion of people who smoke daily declined from 24% in 1991 to 8% in 2022–23.

This figure shows the daily smoking proportion for people aged 14 and over and key national tobacco policy implementation points (such as tobacco tax increases and health campaigns) over time. The proportion of people who smoke daily declined from 24% in 1991 to 8% in 2022–23.

This page focuses on tobacco availability, use, treatment and harms in Australia, including both legal tobacco products and illicit tobacco. The reporting uses data from a range of sources, mostly national administrative and survey data. For related content on laws and policies about tobacco, see Policy context.

Key findings

What data sources are available?

There are a range of data sources that contain information about tobacco use, harms and treatment. These include self-report surveys that ask people about their use of tobacco, health administrative data sets (such as administrative data routinely collected by hospitals), and burden of disease analysis. Each data set uses a different methodology, and the language used to describe tobacco use may also differ across sources.

In particular, the National Drug Strategy Household Survey (NDSHS) and the National Health Survey (NHS) have large sample sizes and collect self-reported data on tobacco smoking and alcohol consumption. Data from the NDSHS and NHS show variations in estimates, yet comparison of trends over time are consistent between the 2 surveys. Differences in scope, collection methodology and design may account for this variation and comparisons between collections should be made with caution. For example:

  • Data are collected for people aged 14 and over for the NDSHS and people aged 15 and over for the NHS. Estimates are provided for people aged 18 and over for both surveys.
  • NDSHS respondents could choose to complete the survey via a self-complete drop and collect questionnaire, online survey, or computer-assisted telephone interview (CATI).
  • The questions asked in the surveys also differ and therefore results from the surveys are not directly comparable (ABS 2023, AIHW 2024b).

For more information about each data source, see Technical notes.

What do we know about tobacco availability in Australia?

  • Australian households spent an average of $919 on tobacco products in 2023, down from $1,079 in 2019

    Source: Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia Survey

Data on tobacco expenditure in Australia indicate a decline in the estimated amounts spent by consumers on cigarettes and tobacco (Bayly and Scollo 2025). Adjusting for seasonality and increasing prices of tobacco products (so that all prices are expressed in current-day terms), the estimated amount that Australians spent on tobacco declined from $77 billion in 1990 to $55 billion in 2000 and $15 billion in 2024 (Bayly and Scollo 2025). This corresponds with declines in the prevalence of smoking among the general population (AIHW 2024b).

Latest available industry sales data indicate that the number of ready-made (manufactured) cigarettes sold in Australia has declined from 15.7 billion sticks in 2016 to 5.0 billion in 2024 (Scollo and Bayly 2025). This represents a decline from 800 to 223 cigarettes per capita, noting that stock shipments in the year to December 2024 would be artificially low due to the introduction of new restrictions on packaging, product names and contents from 1 April 2025 (Scollo and Bayly 2025).

Household spending on tobacco products has also declined, when adjusting for inflation. Across all Australian households (including households with people who use tobacco, and households with no people who use tobacco):

  • Households spent an average of $919 on tobacco products in 2023, equating to $17.6 per week.
  • The average household spending on tobacco products decreased by 14.8% between 2019 and 2023, from $1,079 to $919 (expressed in December 2023 prices) (Laß et al. 2025).

Among households with any tobacco expenditure in a given year, after adjusting for inflation, expenditure on tobacco increased by 28% between 2006 and 2022 (from $3,840 to $4,932, expressed in 2022 prices) (Bayly and Scollo, 2025).

Data on the availability of illicit tobacco in Australia have previously been limited. The Australian Government established the role of Illicit Tobacco and E-cigarette (ITEC) Commissioner in July 2024, with related ITEC reporting requirements. The first ITEC report was released in 2025, providing insights into Australia’s illicit tobacco and e-cigarette market in 2024–25 (ITEC 2025). 

Industry-funded reports have historically been vastly different when compared against illicit tobacco consumption estimates provided by the ATO Tobacco Tax Gap and the NDSHS.   

  • Industry estimates indicate that illicit tobacco consumption accounted for 28.6% of the total tobacco market in Australia in 2023, up from 11.8% in 2012 (Cho et al. 2025).
  • Estimates from the NDSHS indicate that less than 1 in 10 (9.0%) people who currently smoke reported currently smoking unbranded tobacco in 2022–2023, the highest proportion recorded in the NDSHS. Around 1 in 10 (10.2%) people reported purchasing packs without plain packaging in 2022–2023 (AIHW 2024b, tables 2.30 and 2.31).
  • The Australian Taxation Office estimated that around 25% (1,741 tonnes) of all tobacco for sale in Australia in 2023–24 was illicit. The amount of lost customs and excise duty from illicit tobacco ($3.2 billion) accounted for an estimated net gap of 19.6% between the expected and actual customs and excise duty collected from all tobacco consumed within Australia (ATO 2025a). However, the ATO advises using caution for these data (ATO 2025b).
  • The ITEC report estimates that the illicit tobacco market accounted for 50–60% of the total tobacco market in 2024–25, with a value of $4.1–$6.9 billion. This estimate is based on modelling of 2022–2023 consumption data (ITEC 2025).

For more information on illicit tobacco use and markets in Australia, see Tobacco in Australia: Facts and issues.

What do we know about people who use tobacco?

How many people use tobacco and has it changed over time?

  • There have been long-term declines in tobacco smoking in Australia since the 1990s

    Source: National Drug Strategy Household Survey

The most recent NDSHS found that, among people aged 14 and over:

  • the proportion who smoked daily more than halved from 24% in 1991 to 8.3% in 2022–2023
  • the proportion who have never smoked has increased to the highest levels since the survey began (from 49% in 1991 to 65% in 2022–2023) (AIHW 2024b, Table 2.1; Figure 2).

The long-term decline in daily smoking has largely been driven by people never taking up smoking, alongside the proportion of people quitting smoking also rising over time (AIHW 2024b, Greenhalgh et al. 2025).

Figure 2: Tobacco smoking status, people aged 14 and over, 1991 to 2022–2023

This line graph shows that the proportion of people aged 14 and over who have never smoked consistently increased between 1998 and 2022–2023, while the proportion of daily smokers decreased consistently between 1993 and 2022–2023. The proportion of ex-smokers has remained stable since 1998 and the proportion of occasional smokers remained stable between 1995 and 2022–2023. The never smoked group has consistently has consistently had the highest proportion while the occasional smoking group has consistently had the lowest. 

  1. Never smoked 100 cigarettes (manufactured and/or roll-your-own) or the equivalent amount of tobacco. 
  2. Smoked at least 100 cigarettes (manufactured and/or roll-your-own) or the equivalent amount of tobacco in their life, and reported no longer smoking. 
  3. Includes weekly and less than weekly smoking.

# Statistically significant change between 2019 and 2022–2023

Notes:

  1. In 1991, daily smoking included people who reported smoking daily, or most days.
  2. In 1993, smoking status was only asked to people aged 20 years or over.

Source: AIHW 2024 (Supplementary table 2.1)

Data from the 2022 National Health Survey (NHS) showed a similar pattern to the NDSHS data over time. The proportion of adults who smoke daily declined steadily over the 2 decades to 2022, and, after adjusting for age, has halved from 22.4% in 2001 to 10.6% in 2022 (ABS 2023).

What types of tobacco products do people use?

  • Most people who smoke report exclusively smoking manufactured cigarettes, but the proportion of people who smoke roll-your-own cigarettes is rising

    Source: National Drug Strategy Household Survey

Trends in the type of tobacco product consumed by people who smoke has changed over the past decades, with a shift towards use of roll-your-own cigarettes and a higher awareness of illicit tobacco.

Data from the 2022–2023 NDSHS found that, of people who currently smoke:

  • The proportion of people who smoked manufactured cigarettes exclusively declined from a peak of 74% in 2004 to 56% in 2022–2023 (AIHW 2024b, Table 2.24).
  • The proportion who smoked roll-your-own cigarettes exclusively increased from 5.7% in 2001 to 16% in 2022–2023 (AIHW 2024b, Table 2.24). Over 1 in 5 (22%) people aged 18–24 smoked roll-your-own cigarettes exclusively, the highest of any age group (AIHW 2024b, Table 2.25).

Over 2 in 5 (43%) people who currently smoked in 2022–2023 were aware of unbranded tobacco, up from 34% in 2019.

  • Almost one quarter (23%) had smoked unbranded tobacco in their lifetime (AIHW 2024b, Table 2.30).
  • More had seen tobacco products without plain packaging or graphic health warnings in the previous 3 months (20% compared with 15.2% in 2019). Of the 10% who purchased these products, 40% said they purchased them from a tobacconist and 26% said they bought them from a supermarket, convenience or grocery store (AIHW 2024b, Table 2.31).

Does tobacco use differ by age and gender?

  • Tobacco smoking has declined among both men and women, but men continue to be more likely than women to smoke daily

    Source: National Drug Strategy Household Survey

Daily use of tobacco is typically higher among people in older age groups than younger people (Figure 3). Findings from the 2022–2023 NDSHS showed that:

  • People aged 50–59 (12.1%) were the most likely age group to smoke tobacco daily.
  • In people aged 14 and over, males (9.0%) were more likely to smoke daily than females (7.7%).
  • Young adults aged 18–24 were more likely to have never smoked than any other adult age group (AIHW 2024b, Table 2.4; Figure 3).

The average age at which younger people (aged 14–24) had their first full cigarette decreased from 16.6 years in 2019 to 16.3 years in 2022–2023 (AIHW 2024b, Table 2.18).

Figure 3: Tobacco smoking status, people aged 14 and over, by age and gender, 2001 to 2022–2023

This line graph shows the proportion of people aged 14 and over who smoked daily, occasionally, in the past or never, by age group, from 2001 to 2022–2023. Daily smoking declined for all age groups between 2001 and 2022–2023, the largest declines were for the following age groups, 14–17, 18–24, 25–29 and 30–39. In 2007, the age group with the highest proportion of people who smoke daily was 20–29 years, while 14–17 years was the group with the lowest. However in 2022–2023, the age group of 50–59 had the highest proportion of people who smoke daily while the 14–17 year age group had the lowest. People under 24 have consistently had the highest proportion of people who never smoke. The figure includes a filter to view data by gender.

This line graph shows the proportion of people aged 14 and over who smoked daily, occasionally, in the past or never, by age group, from 2001 to 2022–2023. Daily smoking declined for all age groups between 2001 and 2022–2023, the largest declines were for the following age groups, 14–17, 18–24, 25–29 and 30–39. In 2007, the age group with the highest proportion of people who smoke daily was 20–29 years, while 14–17 years was the group with the lowest. However in 2022–2023, the age group of 50–59 had the highest proportion of people who smoke daily while the 14–17 year age group had the lowest. People under 24 have consistently had the highest proportion of people who never smoke. The figure includes a filter to view data by gender.

Data from the 2022 NHS showed that:

  • People aged 55–64 (14.9%) had the highest proportion for daily tobacco smoking (ABS 2023, Table 14.3).
  • Of people aged 18 and over, a higher proportion of men (12.6%) than women (8.7%) currently smoked daily (ABS 2023, Table 14.3).
  • 79% of 18–24-year-olds reported never smoking in 2022, up from 75% in 2017–18 (ABS 2019, 2023).
  • The number of cigarettes smoked per day increased with age – 8.2% of people who smoked aged 18–24 smoked more than 20 cigarettes per day, compared with 26.5% of those aged 65 and over (ABS 2023, Table 14.3).

How many women smoke during pregnancy?

Tobacco smoking during pregnancy is a preventable risk factor for pregnancy complications, and support to stop smoking is widely available through antenatal clinics. 

Data from the National Perinatal Data Collection indicates that tobacco smoking during pregnancy has been declining over time in Australia. In 2023, 7.8% (or 21,450) of all mothers who gave birth reported smoking at any time during pregnancy, down from 13% in 2011 (AIHW 2025b). 

There have been notable improvements over time in smoking rates at any time during pregnancy for some population groups including:

  • First Nations mothers (from 49% in 2011 to 38% in 2023)
  • mothers aged under 20 (from 36% in 2011 to 29% in 2023) (AIHW 2025b). 

Does tobacco use differ by geographic area?

Since 2001, the proportion of people aged 14 and over who smoke tobacco daily has declined across all states and territories and socioeconomic areas, and most remoteness areas (AIHW 2024b). Detailed information on tobacco use by geographic area within Australia is available in the National Drug Strategy Household Survey.

Detailed information on tobacco use by geographic area, including state and territory data, is available in Geographic areas.

For related content on tobacco use among specific population groups in this report, see Population groups.

What are the harms associated with tobacco use?

  • Tobacco use continues to be one of the leading risk factors contributing to the burden of disease in Australia

    Source: Australian Burden of Disease Study

  • Over the past thirty years, there has been a decrease in the proportion of children aged under 14 who are exposed to tobacco smoke in the home

    Source: National Drug Strategy Household Survey

Burden of disease and injury

In 2024, tobacco was the second highest risk factor contributing to the burden of disease in Australia and was responsible for 7.6% of the total burden of disease and injury (AIHW 2024a). The age-standardised rate of total attributable burden due to tobacco use was 12.7 Disability-Adjusted Life Years (DALY) per 1,000 population in 2024, a decrease from 21.6 DALY per 1,000 population in 2003.

Tobacco use contributed to a number of diseases and injuries including:

  • 73% of the burden due to lung cancer
  • 71% of the burden due to chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder
  • 69% of the burden due to laryngeal cancer
  • 47% of the burden due to lip and oral cavity cancer
  • 46% of the burden due to oesophageal cancer (AIHW 2024a, Table S8).

For related content on the burden of disease due to tobacco, alcohol and other drugs in this report, see Burden of disease and injuries related to alcohol and other drugs.

Harms from second-hand smoke

The inhalation of other people’s tobacco smoke can be harmful to health. Second-hand smoke can cause coronary heart disease and lung cancer in non-smoking adults and is known to induce and exacerbate a range of mild to severe respiratory effects in infants, children and adults. Second-hand smoke is also a cause of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) and a range of other serious health outcomes in young children. There is increasing evidence that second-hand smoke exposure is associated with psychological distress (Campbell et al. 2017). 

Results from the 2022–2023 NDSHS showed that parents and guardians are choosing to reduce their children’s exposure to tobacco smoke at home. The proportion of households with children aged under 14 where someone smoked inside the home on a daily basis has fallen substantially from 31% in 1995 to 2.1% in 2022–2023 (AIHW 2024b, Table 2.14). In 2022–2023, 2.6% of adults who did not smoke were exposed to tobacco inside the home on a daily basis (AIHW 2024b, Table 2.16).

Harms related to smoking during pregnancy

Compared with babies born to mothers who did not smoke at any time during pregnancy, babies born to mothers who smoked tobacco at any time during pregnancy were more likely to:

  • be low birth weight, 13.7% compared with 5.9%, in 2023 (among liveborn babies)
  • be born pre-term, 13.7% compared with 7.8%, in 2023 (among all babies) 
  • be admitted to a special care nursery or neonatal intensive care unit, 27.3% compared with 17.3%, in 2023 (among liveborn babies)
  • have a higher perinatal mortality rate, 17.5 per 1,000 births compared with 9.3 per 1,000, in 2022 (among all babies) (AIHW 2025b).

Results for 2023 were based on data from the National Perinatal Data Collection, while 2022 results were based on data from the National Perinatal Mortality Data Collection.

How many people quit smoking or receive treatment for tobacco use?

Intentions to quit

  • Over 3 in 5

    people who smoked in 2022–2023 had future intentions to quit

    Source: National Drug Strategy Household Survey

Data from the 2022–2023 NDSHS showed that 62% of people who currently smoked had future intentions to quit (AIHW 2024b, Table 2.39).

Of those who had changed their smoking behaviour:

  • 53% did so because it was costing too much
  • 45% did so because it was affecting their health or fitness (AIHW 2024b, Table 2.35).

Successful smoking cessation may take many attempts over several years. Data from the HILDA survey indicate that between 2.1% and 3.5% of people quit smoking in any given year between 2003 and 2021. However, 3 in 5 (61.5%) people who quit smoking between 2003 and 2018 started again within 3 years (Wilkins et al. 2024). These data are likely an underestimate as people who quit and start smoking again between annual survey waves will not be counted in these estimates (Wilkins et al. 2024).

Smoking cessation medicines

Data from Australia’s Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) provide information about prescription medicines that are used to help people stop their smoking (smoking cessation medicines). Data from the PBS show that rates of dispensing for smoking cessation medicines fluctuated between 2012–13 and 2024–25, potentially influenced by factors including shortages of Varenicline in 2021–22 (tables PBS62 and PBS64). For detailed information on prescription smoking cessation medicines in this report, see Smoking and alcohol cessation medicines.

Specialist treatment for nicotine use

Nicotine (including both tobacco and e-cigarette use) accounts for a small proportion of specialist alcohol and other drug treatment episodes provided to clients each year (AIHW 2026). Nicotine was the principal drug of concern in just 1.0% (around 2,100) of treatment episodes in 2024–25, relatively stable since 2015–16 (2.4% or around 4,700 episodes).

Data collected for the Alcohol and Other Drug Treatment Services National Minimum Data Set are released twice each year, via an early insights report in April and a detailed annual report mid-year. The section below will be updated with information from the annual report once these data become available.

Of the 1,440 clients who received treatment for nicotine as their principal drug of concern in 2023–24:

  • half (50%) were male (AIHW 2025a, Table SC.9) 
  • 7 in 10 (70%) were aged under 40, including those aged 10–19 (38%), 20–29 (17%), or 30–39 (15%) (AIHW 2025a, Table SC.10)
  • around 1 in 5 (19%) were First Nations people (AIHW 2025a, Table SC.11).

For related content on nicotine treatment in this report, see Alcohol and other drug treatment services.

Where do I go for more information?


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