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SMOKING STATISTICS

• Smoking is the leading preventable cause of death in New Zealand (Ministry of Health, 2005)
• It is estimated that smoking causes a quarter of cancer deaths in New Zealand (Ministry of Health, 2003a) 
• According to the Ministry of Health between 4,300 and 4,600 (1)  New Zealanders die each year because of smoking (Ministry of Health, 2003b)
• Smoking is responsible for approximately fifteen per cent of all deaths (Ministry of Health, 2003)
• Lung cancer is the most common cause of cancer death for males and the second most common for females (Ministry of Health, 2004a)
• Lung cancer the leading cause of cancer death for Maori (Ministry of Health, 2004b)  
• Lung cancer was the most commonly diagnosed cancer among Maori males and the second most common among Maori females during 1996-2001. It was the leading cause of cancer death among Maori males and females.  On average, 240 Maori were diagnosed with lung cancer each year, and 228 Maori died from this disease. The incidence of lung cancer among maori was over three times that of non-maori. Maori men had the highest rates, followed by Maori women. (Wellington School of Medical and Health Sciences, 2006) 
• Maori lung cancer mortality rates are three times higher than non-Maori rates (Ministry of Health, 2003a) 
• An estimated 31% of Maori deaths are attributable to tobacco smoking (Laugesen, 1998) 
• At least one-third of the shorter life expectancy of those living in the most deprived areas is accounted for by smoking (Ministry of Health. 2001) 
• There are considerable ethnic differences in smoking rates with Maori (Male: 39.5%, Female: 47.6%) and Pacific Peoples (Male: 32.0%, Female: 22.4%) considerably more likely to smoke than European New Zealanders (Male: 22.6, Female: 19.5%) (Ministry of Health, 2005) 
• There are considerable socio-economic differences in smoking rates with beneficiaries (Male: 46.3%, Female: 47%) and blue collar workers (Male: 32.9%, Female: 33%) are considerably more likely to smoke than white collar workers (Male: 18.9%, Female: 20.2%) (Ministry of Health, 2005) 

KEY NZ DATA

• A Portrait of Health: Key results of the 2006/07 New Zealand Health Survey - Tobacco use
• New Zealand Tobacco Use Survey 2006
• Tobacco Trends 2006: Monitoring tobacco use in New Zealand

Footnotes