Cigarette smoking
Age differences
The prevalence of smoking varies considerably by age.
The 2006/07 New Zealand Health Survey found that among males, smoking was more common in the 25 to 34 age group (30.6 percent) than any other age group, followed by those aged 18 to 24 (27.0 percent).
Among females, the highest rate of smoking appeared in the 18 to 24 age group (27.6 percent), followed by those aged 25 to 24 (25.3 percent).
Just over 15 percent of young men and young women aged 15 to 17 were current smokers in 2006/07.
| Age group (years) | Males % |
Females % |
|---|---|---|
| (95% CI) | (95% CI) | |
| 15-17 | 15.6 | 15.1 |
| (10.4 - 20.7) | (8.8 - 21.4) | |
| 18-24 | 27 | 27.6 |
| (22.0 - 32.0) | (23.2 - 32.0) | |
| 25-34 | 30.6 | 25.3 |
| (26.8 - 34.4) | (22.2 - 28.5) | |
| 35-44 | 23.6 | 20.4 |
| (20.5 - 26.8) | (17.9 - 22.9) | |
| 45-54 | 23 | 19.5 |
| (19.5 - 26.5) | (16.6 - 22.4) | |
| 55-64 | 14.2 | 15.5 |
| (11.5 - 16.9) | (13.0 - 18.0) | |
| 65-74 | 11.4 | 10.5 |
| (8.3 - 14.5) | (7.7 - 13.2) | |
| 75+ | 5.1 | 3.3 |
| (3.1 - 7.9) | (2.0 - 4.5) | |
| All ages 15+ | 21.1 | 18.8 |
| (19.7 - 22.4) | (17.5 - 20.0) |
Source: New Zealand Health Survey 2006/07.
Note: “95%CI” (95 percent confidence interval) signifies that there is a 95 percent chance that the true value falls within this range. If the respective confidence intervals (in brackets) do not overlap, the difference between rates is likely to be statistically significant.
