Smoking rates at "all-time low" in Australia: research

The number of daily smokers in Australia has halved over the last 15 years and is currently at an "all-time low," according to a report released by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) on Thursday.

Researchers found that less than 13 percent of Australians are daily smokers in 2016, while the report expects that rate to fall even further in the future.

Tim Beard from the AIHW said the 13 percent figure was one of the lowest in the world, and one which was at least 3 percentage points lower than the smoking rate in 2010.

"The most pleasing result probably is the fact that 11 of the 14 indicators are moving in what we'd look at as a positive direction," Beard said.

"Regular smoking rates have continued to come down under the past three years, so we've found that the daily smoking rate is down to an all-time low of (under) 13 percent. That's one of the lowest smoking rates in the world."

Beard said the number of smokers in Australia had fallen "dramatically" over the last 20 years, since cigarette advertising was banned and higher taxes were imposed on tobacco products.

"It's come down by a good 3 percentage points (in the last five years)," Beard said.

"The increased excise on smoking has been a strong policy of multiple governments... the rising excise over the past few years has certainly been coupled in a lot of research with dramatic drops in smoking rates." Endit