Tobacco sales continue to fall
August 21, 2026 by beehive.govt.nz
Tobacco sales continue to fall
New Zealand’s tobacco sales data points to a major long-term shift away from cigarettes. Sales volumes have fallen sharply, but the rise of cheap illegal tobacco shows why lower smoking rates cannot depend on enforcement alone. Smokers need legal, affordable and credible routes away from combustion, including accurate information about vaping as a lower-risk cessation tool. The next stage of tobacco control should protect progress by making the safer pathway easier than the illicit one.
8.60% of the adult population are current smokers. There are approximately 364,000 current smokers in New Zealand.
SOURCE: GSTHR
