Cigarette smoking
Sex differences
Similar proportions of young males and young females smoke cigarettes.
Just over 15 percent of young men and young women aged 15 to 17 smoke, and around 27 percent of those aged 18 to 24.
| Age group | 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.
