Top Stories from Australia
11% of the adult population are current smokers
There are approximately 2.4 million current smokers in Australia
12.9% of men are current smokers but only 9.3% of women
Country profile
Data sourced:
2025.
Page updated:
2026-04-14
Smoking in Australia
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.
12,838
Deaths
Each year, 12,838 deaths in Australia are attributed to tobacco smoking.
95.4 million €
Market size of NRT.
Estimated NRT market size is 95.4 million €.
Nicotine Vaping Devices
in Australia
In Australia, e-cigarettes are banned for general retail sale but regulated as medicinal products. So, therapeutic vapes with nicotine concentrations of 20 mg or less can be accessed only with a prescription and purchased through pharmacies. It is not legal to buy or sell e-cigarettes online, and there is a comprehensive ban on advertising. In 2022, there were an estimated 517,900 current vapers in Australia. The adult current e-cigarette vaping prevalence was 2.5%, 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
in Australia
The sale of HTP is banned. HTP is illegal to be marketed.
Nicotine Replacement Therapy
in Australia
In Australia you don't need a prescription to purchase NRT. Estimated NRT market size is 95.4 million €. NRT is legal to market. many general shops without a prescription is where NRT can be bought.
Snus
in Australia
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.
Pouches
in Australia
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
The GSTHR database is updated regularly by our team.
However, please be aware that the information we provide does not constitute legal advice.
We cannot guarantee that the information is up to date or accurate, as the regulatory status of different product
categories can change at short notice and with little publicity.
If you wish to check the legal status of use or possession of any safer nicotine product in a specific country or region,
you should verify the information independently.
If you have reason to think that the information supplied on the GSTHR is inaccurate, please contact us with details
and any references and we will rectify any errors.