There are approximately 2.4 million current smokers in Australia
12.9% of men are current smokers but only 9.3% of women
In 2017-18, just under one in seven (13.8%) or 2.6 million adults were daily smokers, whilst a further 1.4% of people also reported smoking on a less than daily basis. Since 1995, the proportion of adults who are daily smokers has decreased from 23.8% to 13.8% in 2017-18. Over recent years however, the daily smoking rate has remained fairly constant (14.5% in 2014-15). Despite this, the proportion of adults who have never smoked has increased from 49.4% in 2007-08 to 52.6% in 2014-15 and 55.7% in 2017-18. In 2017-18, young adults aged 18-24 years were more likely to have never smoked than any other age group, with 69.6% of men and 81.5% of women in this age group reporting that they had never smoked. These proportions have increased from 64.0% and 64.9% respectively since 2007-08. The national Health Survey was conducted in all states and territories and across urban, rural and remote areas of Australia in 2017/18. The survey included around 21,000 people in over 16,000 private dwellings. Previous surveys have been conducted since 1989/90.
Each year, 12,838 deaths in Australia are attributed to tobacco smoking.
Estimated NRT market size is 95.4 million €.
In Australia, e-cigarettes are banned for general retail sale but regulated as medicinal products. Therefore, vapes with nicotine concentrations of 20 mg or less can be accessed only with a prescription and purchased from pharmacies. It is not legal to buy or sell e-cigarettes online, and there is a comprehensive ban on their advertising. In 2023, there were an estimated 1.5 million current vapers in Australia. The adult current e-cigarette vaping prevalence was 7% (6.2% among females, 7.8% among males), while the adult daily vaping prevalence was estimated to be 3.5% in 2023. Additionally, 8.8% of adults stated they had ever tried e-cigarette vaping as of 2016. A 2017 survey by Hua-Hie Yong et al, found that 54.1% of respondents perceived e-cigarettes as not harmful or less harmful than cigarettes, 9.1% believed they were equally as harmful, 0.4% thought they were more harmful, and 36.5% reported that they did not know. Overall, Australia maintains a highly restrictive regulatory environment for e-cigarettes, focusing on medical supervision, while limiting public access and commercial promotion.
Heated Tobacco Products (HTPs) are banned by law in Australia. It is unclear whether HTPs can be imported for personal use. Therefore, we advise you to check with your airline before traveling if you intend to import HTPs for personal use.
In Australia, Nicotine Replacement Therapy (NRT) is allowed, including the sale and purchase of NRT products without a prescription. NRT products are included on the country’s essential drugs list, and the government partially covers NRT cost. These products can be found in general stores. The estimated NRT market size value in Australia was € 95.4 million in 2019.
Used in Scandinavia for more than 200 years, snus is providing smokers in Sweden and Norway with an alternative to combustible cigarettes. Find out what it is, and why it is considered a safer nicotine product in our briefing paper.
Nicotine pouches are a relatively new product which can provide users of high-risk tobacco with an alternative that poses fewer risks to their health. Read more about nicotine pouches in our briefing paper
Top Stories from Australia
September 11, 2026 by vapingpost.com
StorySome Sense at Last? Coalition Proposes 80% Tobacco Tax Cut and Legal Vapes to Break Australia’s Black Market
In line with what tobacco harm reduction experts have been suggesting all along, Australia’s …
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