Smoking rates in Australia drop below 10%, but vaping increases

Fewer than one in 10 Australians now smoke tobacco daily, although rates of vaping in teenagers and young adults have almost tripled in five years, a survey of more than 21 000 people has found.

Research by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare in people aged 14 and over found that the rate of daily smoking dropped to 8.3% in 2022-23, down from 11% in 2019.1 The percentage of people reporting daily e-cigarette use more than tripled over the same period, however, from 1.1% in 2019 to 3.5% in 2022-23.

Tobacco control experts have hailed the decline in smoking as evidence that Australia’s suite of anti-smoking measures is working.

“What we’ve seen is an incredible continuation of Australia’s long term trajectory in terms of …