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Cigarette smoking

The proportion (%) of the population in the area aged 15 years and over who currently smoke cigarettes.

This image is a visual representation of the data for this indicator. See the table below this image for the information.


Region Smoking rate (%)
1981 1996 2006
1 Northland 33.9 29.7 28.8
2 Auckland 31.9 22.3 18.9
3 Waikato 33.0 25.9 24.4
4 Bay of Plenty 35.0 28.4 26.6
5 Gisborne 37.0 31.5 32.0
6 Hawke's Bay 35.0 28.5 27.7
7 Taranaki 32.4 25.8 24.8
8 Manawatu-Wanganui 33.0 26.0 25.9
9 Wellington 33.4 23.5 20.4
10 Tasman 29.6 23.7 21.0
11 Nelson 28.9 23.4 22.1
12 Marlborough 29.5 23.7 23.6
13 West Coast 33.4 28.2 27.8
14 Canterbury 29.8 22.5 20.5
15 Otago 32.6 23.6 20.7
16 Southland 33.8 27.3 26.7

Cigarette smoking, by sex and age, 2006

Region Number and age-standardised rates
Male Female 15 - 24 25 - 44 45 - 64 65+ Total
Number % Number % Number % Number % Number % Number % Number %
Northland 12,474 28.8 13,356 28.9 4,575 30.7 10,992 34.8 8,379 23.9 1,887 9.9 25,833 28.8
Auckland 91,551 21.1 78,537 16.9 36,093 20.3 79,947 22.1 45,306 17.2 8,739 7.6 170,085 18.9
Waikato 30,423 24.8 31,041 24.0 13,281 27.2 27,150 29.0 17,403 20.8 3,624 8.4 61,458 24.4
Bay of Plenty 19,950 26.1 22,569 27.1 8,466 30.7 18,894 31.5 12,531 21.5 2,619 7.6 42,510 26.6
Gisborne 4,029 31.0 4,695 33.1 1,788 35.5 3,882 38.4 2,574 27.1 474 10.0 8,718 32.0
Hawke's Bay 12,387 27.5 13,404 27.8 5,148 31.4 11,295 32.5 7,782 22.7 1,566 8.4 25,791 27.7
Taranaki 8,160 25.0 8,415 24.6 3,192 27.1 7,413 29.9 4,884 20.6 1,077 7.8 16,566 24.8
Manawatu-Wanganui 18,774 26.2 19,509 25.7 8,238 27.8 16,305 31.1 11,175 22.5 2,565 8.9 38,283 25.9
Wellington 32,463 21.2 32,412 19.6 13,791 22.8 29,448 23.4 17,847 18.4 3,786 8.1 64,872 20.4
Tasman 3,111 22.5 2,772 19.6 1,011 23.9 2,688 24.8 1,845 15.7 345 6.2 5,889 21.0
Nelson 3,297 23.7 3,021 20.7 1,296 25.9 2,898 26.8 1,767 16.4 357 6.2 6,318 22.1
Marlborough 3,378 24.8 3,033 22.3 1,185 28.1 2,808 28.2 1,998 17.8 435 7.0 6,426 23.6
West Coast 2,973 28.1 2,853 27.5 921 29.9 2,469 32.1 2,001 25.0 432 11.1 5,823 27.8
Canterbury 38,394 21.8 35,838 19.3 15,450 23.0 32,718 24.1 21,180 17.5 4,884 7.3 74,232 20.5
Otago 14,853 22.0 13,869 19.5 6,381 20.4 12,015 25.3 8,400 19.1 1,935 8.0 28,731 20.7
Southland 8,124 27.2 7,977 26.2 3,483 32.7 6,924 30.3 4,689 21.9 999 8.7 16,095 26.7

Cigarette smoking, by ethnicity, 2006

Region Number and age-standardised rates
European Māori Pacific Asian Other Total
Number % Number % Number % Number % Number % Number %
Northland 15,018 24.7 11,328 43.1 699 38.5 246 13.6 2,052 19.5 25,833 28.8
Auckland 92,892 18.6 34,782 39.5 30,168 28.3 18,219 9.9 13,152 14.6 170,091 18.9
Waikato 39,618 22.8 19,869 41.5 1,980 29.7 1,434 10.2 5,721 18.0 61,461 24.4
Bay of Plenty 24,537 23.3 17,640 42.3 1,152 32.3 651 12.0 3,897 18.2 42,507 26.6
Gisborne 3,738 25.6 5,283 43.1 228 32.7 84 17.8 558 19.9 8,718 32.1
Hawke's Bay 15,870 25.2 8,922 43.5 813 28.9 297 13.0 2,601 19.8 25,785 27.7
Taranaki 11,982 23.6 3,918 41.3 243 33.4 213 12.8 1,923 19.8 16,560 24.8
Manawatu-Wanganui 25,938 24.5 11,061 42.7 1,050 30.8 747 11.9 4,119 20.2 38,280 25.9
Wellington 42,657 19.5 13,569 37.5 6,675 30.9 2,898 10.2 6,531 16.1 64,872 20.4
Tasman 4,773 21.0 699 37.0 54 27.5 51 12.3 693 16.3 5,886 21.0
Nelson 4,932 22.1 888 37.6 144 35.0 123 15.6 708 16.1 6,330 22.2
Marlborough 4,854 23.2 1,074 39.0 126 32.3 72 12.7 915 19.2 6,408 23.5
West Coast 4,689 28.6 696 40.3 60 37.3 21 13.7 816 22.0 5,829 27.8
Canterbury 56,778 20.9 9,009 38.2 1,917 28.7 2,790 11.8 9,306 17.0 74,232 20.5
Otago 22,674 21.2 2,889 35.5 558 27.5 702 11.1 3,738 17.3 28,725 20.7
Southland 12,390 26.5 2,703 40.9 330 37.4 114 14.8 2,052 20.5 16,095 26.7
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