Overview

Tobacco smoking is the single most important preventable cause of ill health and death in Australia. Tobacco smoke contains over 7,000 chemicals, of which over 70 cause cancer.

More reports and statistics on tobacco smoking can be found under Alcohol, Alcohol & other drug treatment services and Illicit use of drugs.

Latest findings

People who inject drugs experience considerably poorer health outcomes than other drug users The non-medical use of pharmaceutical drugs is an ongoing public health problem in Australia People with mental health conditions are more likely to use tobacco, alcohol and illicit drugs Over the past 50 years, levels of apparent consumption of different alcoholic beverages changed substantially The proportion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who smoke has declined significantly Tobacco smoking is the leading cause of preventable burden in Australia Cannabis is the most widely used illicit drug in Australia There is a strong link between problematic alcohol or other drug use and experiences of homelessness

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Highlights

11%of people aged 14 and older smoked daily in 2019. This is down from 24% in 1991
People in their 40s and 50s were the most likely age group to smoke daily (16%) in 2019
9.6%of women smoked at some time during their pregnancy in 2018, down from 14.6% in 2009
16.6 yearswas the average age at which 14–24 year-olds smoked their first full cigarette in 2019 compared with 14.3 years in 2001
36,000treatment episodes provided by specialist alcohol and other drug agencies in 2018–19 involved nicotine for principal and additional drug of concern
Only 2.1%of households with dependent children reported smoking inside the home in 2019. This has steadily declined from 20% in 2001