Smoking rates fall to historic low across Australia despite the rise of illicit tobacco

Lead

Daily smoking rates in Australia have dropped to historic lows, according to the latest national survey, but the data also reveals a significant shift toward illicit tobacco and the use of multiple nicotine products, prompting concerns among health experts.

Coverage Comparison

Two major news outlets, ABC Australia and The Guardian, reported on the findings from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare's National Drug Strategy Household Survey. Both highlighted the record-low smoking rates, but they differed slightly in the reported figures: ABC Australia cited a daily smoking rate of 5.8% in 2025, while The Guardian reported 5.6%. The variation appears to reflect different ways of rounding or presenting the same underlying data.

The outlets also emphasized different aspects of the story. ABC Australia focused on the emergence of multiple nicotine use and the government's crackdown on nicotine pouches, while The Guardian took a more optimistic tone, crediting plain packaging, taxation, and public education for the decline.

Key Claims

• Daily smoking rates among Australians aged 14 and above fell to between 5.6% and 5.8% in 2025, depending on the source, down from 8.3% in 2022-23. This represents approximately 500,000 fewer daily smokers than three years ago, a decline nearly double the government's 2025 target.
• The proportion of Australians using any nicotine fell to 15.2% in 2025, from 17.4% in 2022-23, according to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare.
• Vaping rates have stabilized or declined: ABC Australia reported that daily vaping among younger Australians dropped from 11.3% in 2022-23 to 5.8% in 2025, and nationwide vaping declined from 7% to 6% over the same period. The Guardian reported that vaping rates have stabilized.
• Use of illicit tobacco is increasing among smokers. The Guardian reported that 34% of smokers said they had recently used illicit tobacco, up from 16.7% in 2022-23. ABC Australia reported that illicit nicotine product consumption jumped to 80% in 2025, though this figure appears to refer to a different measure or a different subset of users.
• The use of multiple forms of nicotine has doubled in the last year, according to ABC Australia, citing the survey report, which called this "an emerging area of concern" that could increase the average amount of nicotine consumed.
• Nicotine pouches, known as snus, have gained popularity, appearing in the data for the first time. Among Australians aged 18 to 24, 3.6% used snus and 8.4% used nicotine pouches in the last year.
• The government is cracking down on nicotine pouches, with a ban on their sale scheduled to take effect shortly after the data release, even with a prescription.
• More than two-thirds of Australians aged 14 and above have never smoked, a historic high, according to the Cancer Council Australia's CEO, Jacinta Reddan.

Perspectives

The Cancer Council Australia praised the decline in smoking rates. CEO Jacinta Reddan said the data showing more than two-thirds of Australians had never smoked was a "historic high."

The Public Health Association of Australia's president, whose name was not provided in the available material, said that tackling illicit tobacco requires both enforcement and regulatory responses, as reported by The Guardian.

Health Minister Mark Butler, whose statements were referenced in the ABC Australia report, acknowledged the shift in tobacco use and the government's action on nicotine pouches, though his full remarks were not included in the available material.