WELLINGTON, Aug. 21 (Xinhua) -- The volume of tobacco sold in New Zealand fell by more than 20 percent year-on-year in 2025 and has more than halved over the past decade, a senior health official said Friday.
Annual tobacco returns showed the volume of tobacco sold had fallen by two-thirds since 2010, and the number of cigarettes sold per capita was down nearly 80 percent, consistent with the long-term fall in smoking rates, Associate Health Minister Casey Costello said in a statement.
However, the accelerated decline in legal tobacco sales in recent years was concerning, as it could partly reflect the growing availability of black-market cigarettes rather than a corresponding fall in smoking rates, Costello said.
The government is focusing on cracking down on illegal cigarette sales, preventing young people from taking up smoking and helping current smokers quit, she said, adding that smoking remains one of New Zealand's most harmful and preventable causes of illness and early death.
The minister noted that the government's law changes to ban disposable vapes, put in display restrictions and increase penalties for underage tobacco and vape sales came into effect a year ago and have been backed by a significant increase in enforcement activity. ■