People’s estimates of how many New Zealand adults smoke

In HPA's Health and Lifestyles Survey all respondents (aged 15+ years) were asked to estimate the number of New Zealand adults who smoked daily (as perceived prevalence of smoking can help assess whether or not tobacco use is seen as a normal behaviour). The daily smoking rate in New Zealand was 18% in 2006/07 and 17% in 2011/12. Results showed that respondents tended to over-estimate the prevalence of smoking among New Zealand adults, with 83% of respondents thinking that prevalence was more than 17%. In fact, 30% of the respondents believed at least half of the adult population smoke daily.