A Tale of Two Countries: New Zealand vs Australia
AT A GLANCE
6.8%
New Zealand’s smoking rate has more than halved compared to over 15% a decade ago[1]
5% Smokefree Target
While THR-supportive policies and Vapour Products have helped NZ get close to the 5% target, Oral Nicotine Pouches could be the next step in achieving a smokefree status.
New Zealand has emerged as a global leader in Tobacco Harm Reduction (THR), achieving a remarkable decline in smoking prevalence in recent years, while also successfully controlling and reducing underage vaping. This success story is largely a result of the government endorsing a pragmatic approach that embraces Vapour Products as a better alternative for adult smokers, who would otherwise continue to smoke, while enforcing the regulation of the category in a way designed to mitigate underage access.
The New Zealand government’s approach focused on harm reduction, acknowledging the reality that some adult smokers may choose not to quit. The government has stated that its intent is to “support smokers to switch to regulated products that are significantly less harmful than smoking”[2]. By providing choice and making lower-risk*† profile alternatives, like Vapour Products, available and accessible for adult smokers, it aimed to encourage them away from cigarettes. So far, this strategy has proved remarkably effective.
Vapour Products Are Driving Smoking Declines While Underage Vaping Also Declines
New Zealand has experienced a historic decline in daily smoking, which dropped to 6.8% in 2024/25[1], a significant drop from 16.4% in 2011/12[3]. This means that the number of daily smokers has reduced by more than half since 2011/12, resulting in 278,000 fewer daily smokers[3] and placing the country within reach of its “Smokefree 2025” goal[4]. Meanwhile, adult daily vaping has increased to 11.7% in 2024/25 from just 0.9% when it was first measured in 2015/16[3], with vaping prevalence now exceeding smoking prevalence among adults under the age of 45[5].
Action for Smokefree 2025 (ASH) New Zealand links this historic decline to the country’s proactive Tobacco Harm Reduction strategies, recognizing that vaping has played a significant role in the reduction of smoking rates[6],[7]. The Ministry of Health continues to promote access to less harmful alternatives like Vapour Products[3] as part of the Smokefree 2025 strategy[8]. Health New Zealand (Te Whatu Ora), a body under the Ministry of Health acknowledges that vaping is a tool for THR. On their website they state that “vaping is a way to help people quit smoking” and noting that vaping is “not harmless, but it is less harmful than smoking”[9] .Furthermore, the availability of regulated Vapour Products discourages the use of black-market products that may contain unknown and unregulated ingredients.
Crucially, despite the rise in adult vaping, sustained policy efforts[10] mean that youth smoking and youth vaping in New Zealand have both plummeted over the last decade. Daily smoking among 15-24-year-olds is now just 3.2%[3], while the 2025 ASH Year 10 Snapshot Survey, found daily smoking among Year 10 students (age ~14-15) fell to 1.1%[11]. According to ASH NZ, the rate of daily youth vaping has also declined in recent years. The 2025 ASH Year 10 Snapshot Survey shows that vaping incidence dropped to 7.1% (down from 8.7% in 2024) among New Zealand’s Year 10 students[11].
ASH welcomed the low rates of smoking and the decrease in vaping as shown in students. This is one of the largest ongoing smoking and vaping surveys in the world and ASH NZ chair Emeritus Professor Robert Beaglehole said New Zealand’s progress should be celebrated. “This is a major global success which we should be celebrating. We are raising a smoke-free generation”[12].
Challenges and the Road Ahead
New Zealand’s journey has not been without its challenges.
Daily smoking has somewhat plateaued in recent years, sitting at 6.8% at the end of 2025. To get to under 5% and achieve smokefree status, New Zealand is being encouraged to follow Sweden’s lead and provide adult smokers with more options and regulate nicotine pouches for retail sale[13].
In 2024, the NZ Government agreed in principle to allow the sale of Smokeless Products (such as Swedish snus and Oral Nicotine Pouches) subject to the products meeting “safety requirements” and regulatory controls to prevent youth access[14].
Any future regulations will need to continue to strike the right balance between preventing underage access and providing adult smokers access to reduced-risk*† products.
New Zealand’s experience presents valuable lessons for other countries grappling with the public health burden of smoking. It demonstrates the potential of Tobacco Harm Reduction strategies, particularly when coupled with robust regulations.
“This is a major global success which we should be celebrating. We are raising a smoke-free generation.”
ASH NZ chair Emeritus Professor Robert Beaglehole[12]
A Beacon of Hope For a Smokeless Future
A smokefree future is within reach for New Zealand. It is a success story that offers a compelling reason for optimism for other countries wanting to transition to a smokefree future. By adopting a pragmatic approach that embraces THR and lower-risk*† profile products, such as Vapour Products, other countries can potentially replicate its success.
New Zealand’s Journey
2017
Electronic Cigarette Technical Expert Advisory Group formed.
2018
Cabinet agrees to improve the regulation of vaping and smokeless tobacco products.
2019
The Ministry of Health and Health New Zealand co-launched a smoking cessation website, ‘Vaping Facts’, which informed adult smokers that, although not licensed for this purpose, “Vaping is a way to quit cigarettes by getting nicotine with fewer of the toxins that come from burning tobacco.”[15]
2020
A regulatory regime designed to balance the need to encourage adult smokers to switch to products with reduced-risk*† potential, while protecting the underage, was approved by New Zealand’s four major political parties.
2021
The Smokefree Environment Regulated Products Regulations 2021 came into effect. The Vaping Regulatory Authority was established to regulate vaping products.
2023
The Smokefree Environments and Regulated Products Regulations introduced new Underage Protection measures including flavour labelling restrictions that preserved suitability for adults[16].
2024
New Zealand cut HTP excise by 50% on a trial basis to test whether a price differential accelerates switching away from smoking[17].
2025
The Smokefree Environments and Regulated Products Amendment Act (No 2) 2024 came into effect June 2025. These regulations banned the sale of disposable vaping devices and placed significant restrictions on the display/ visibility of vaping products in general retail, and specialist vape retail outlets[18].
Australia: Restricted Access
Meanwhile, Australia has taken a very different path in regulating Vapour Products. While nicotine Vapour Products have never been legal for adult retail sale in Australia, since October 2021, Australia introduced a severely restricted prescription-only access model. This model requires adult consumers to obtain a doctor’s prescription which would then only allow them to legally purchase Vapour Products from a pharmacy.
According to the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners, Australia is the only country in the world to restrict access to nicotine Vapour Products on a prescription only basis. In 2023, the Australian government further announced the extended restrictions on importation and retail sales including non-nicotine Vapour Products and shut down the personal importation scheme. In October 2024, nicotine Vapour Products became available for adults to purchase at pharmacies with a prescription[19].
This over-the-counter pharmacy only availability has also proved to be a failure for harm reduction, underage access and the prevalence of the black market; approximately only 1 out of every 1,686 Vapour Products bought in Australia are through a pharmacy[20]. Some Australian state governments have also implemented heavy penalties of up to A$32,000 and imprisonment for those in possession of unauthorised nicotine[21], which is much more severe than the penalties for possession of small quantities of drugs such as cannabis.
Alongside punitive regulation, the public health campaigns launched by the government highlighted the dangers of vaping with graphic imagery and testimonials with the slogan “Every Vape is a Hit to Your Health”; in contrast to the pro-switching messaging of their New Zealand counterparts. Did these extreme measures work? In our opinion, this is a clear no. In 2025, there are an estimated 1.7million adult vapour consumers in Australia. Of these, an estimated 99% are using e-cigarettes from illegal sources. The smoking prevalence has also risen for the first time since 2005, increasing from 11.8% in 2024 to 12.1% in Q1 2025, since the vaping sales ban was introduced in mid-2024.
By 2021, New Zealand had a lower smoking prevalence than Australia. A 2022 study using a vaping model by Levy et al. evaluated the potential impact on public health of relaxing restrictions on Vapour Products in Australia, predicting that as many as 104,200 premature deaths could be averted during the period 2017-2080 if Australia embraced Tobacco Harm Reduction by increasing adult smokers’ access to these products[22]. Australian experts increasingly agree that the Government’s approach to THR isn’t right. For example, when Australia moved to the pharmacy-only model in October 2024, the Pharmacy Guild of Australia, a national body that represents Australia’s pharmacists, raised its concerns, stating, “it is unclear how this change will address concerns around availability of black-market vapes and organised crime”[23].
Organised crime has now gained a significant foothold in illicit tobacco and Vapour Products[24]. Despite the media scrutiny and calls for a Royal Commission, the Australian Government continues to deny the scale of the crisis. Even with the Australian Government committing over A$450 million to fight the illicit tobacco and vapour market since January 2024, and establishing a Federal Illicit Tobacco and E-Cigarette Commissioner in July 2024, the illicit nicotine market has continued to grow rapidly. This underscores that the current tobacco and vapour policy settings are failing[25]. Without a fundamental shift in approach, Australia risks cementing a permanent and entrenched illicit market for tobacco and nicotine, with potentially severe consequences for public health, crime and the national economy.
Speaking about the state of the Australian market, Roy Morgan CEO Michelle Levin said “the final impact of e-cigarettes, vaping and illicit tobacco, and a raft of legislation and social reform will take some time to untangle”[26].
Vapour Products are banned in Australia
“The current prescription-only model has been disastrous proof of this problem. Implementing more severe restrictions on vaping products will only spur the black market and reduce smoking quit rates.”
Australian National Advisory Council on Alcohol and Other Drugs (ANCAD)[27]
Footnotes
* Based on the weight of evidence and assuming a complete switch from cigarette smoking. These products are not risk free and are addictive.
† Products sold in the U.S., including Vuse, Velo, Grizzly, Kodiak, and Camel Snus, are subject to FDA regulation and no reduced-risk claims will be made as to these products without agency clearance.
References
A full list of references for this page can be found in the section 11. References.
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