Smoking and vaping

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:

• Almost three in ten (29.6%) adults were ex-smokers
• Nearly three in five (58.3%) had never smoked, an increase over the last decade from 51.1% in 2011–12
• Females were more likely than males to have never smoked (64.6% compared to 51.7%)
• Young adults aged 18–24 years were more likely than any other age group to have never smoked (79.2%).

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:

• Living in areas of most disadvantage were more likely to be current daily smokers than those in areas of least disadvantage (18.1% compared to 5.4%)
• Who speak English at home were more likely to be current daily smokers than those who speak a language other than English at home (11.3% compared to 7.2%)
• Living in Outer Regional and Remote areas were almost twice as likely to be a current daily smoker than those in Major Cities (16.7% compared to 9.4%)
• Living with disability were more likely to be current daily smokers than people without a disability (14.1% compared to 8.6%)
• Who were unemployed were more than twice as likely to be current daily smokers than people who work full-time (24.3% compared to 11.0%) and people who work part-time (24.3% compared to 8.3%)
• Who were not in the labour force were less likely to be current daily smokers than those who were unemployed (10.7% compared to 24.3%)
• Who had a bachelor degree or above (3.8%) were less likely to be current daily smokers than people with any other level of educational qualification
• Living in family households with dependent children were less likely to be current daily smokers than either those in group households (8.6% compared to 17.6%) or those who lived alone (8.6% compared to 13.8%).

• Current daily smokers, on average, smoked 11.8 cigarettes per day or just over half a pack (a pack is considered to be 20 cigarettes)
• Adults aged 18–44 years who were current daily smokers, on average, smoked less cigarettes per day than adults aged 45 years and over (9.8 cigarettes compared to 13.4 cigarettes)
• One in five (21.1%) current daily smokers smoked 20 or more cigarettes a day.

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:

• Males were more likely than females to have used e-cigarette and vaping devices at least once (17.4% compared to 11.4%)
• Almost twice as many males reported current use of e-cigarette and vaping devices than females (5.2% compared to 2.9%).

Of those adults who were current daily smokers in 2022:

• One in eight (12.7%) reported current use of e-cigarette and vaping devices
• One in four (26.1%) had formerly used e-cigarette and vaping devices
• Three in five (61.4%) had never used e-cigarette and vaping devices.

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:

• TABLE 1 Summary health characteristics by age and sex
• TABLE 2 Summary health characteristics by states and territories
• TABLE 5 Selected long-term health conditions by health risk factors and health status
• TABLE 6 Health risk factors by population characteristics
• TABLE 14 Smoking and vaping by age and sex.

1. Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, ‘Australian Burden of Disease Study 2018: Interactive data on risk factor burden’, https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/burden-of-disease/abds-2018-interactive-data-risk-factors/contents/tobacco-use; accessed 15/11/2023.
2. Department of Health and Aged Care, ‘What are the effects of smoking and tobacco?’, https://www.health.gov.au/topics/smoking-and-tobacco/about-smoking-and-tobacco/what-are-the-effects-of-smoking-and-tobacco; accessed 15/11/2023.
3. Department of Health and Aged Care, ‘Tobacco control timeline’, https://www1.health.gov.au/internet/publications/publishing.nsf/Content/tobacco-control-toc~timeline; accessed 15/11/2023.
4. Department of Health and Aged Care, ‘WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control’, https://www.health.gov.au/health-topics/smoking-and-tobacco/tobacco-control/who-framework-convention-on-tobacco-control; accessed 15/11/2023.
5. Australian Bureau of Statistics, ‘Smoking’, https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/health/health-conditions-and-risks/smoking/2017-18; accessed 15/11/2023.
6. Department of Health and Aged Care, ‘About e-cigarettes’, https://www.health.gov.au/health-topics/smoking-and-tobacco/about-smoking-and-tobacco/about-e-cigarettes; accessed 15/11/2023.
7. Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, ‘E-cigarettes, smoking and health’, https://www.csiro.au/en/research/health-medical/diseases/health-impacts-of-electronic-cigarettes; accessed 15/11/2023.

See National Health Survey 2022 media release for more information.