Smoking is still the single biggest preventable cause of death in Australia. An Australian National University study published in 2025 puts the toll at more than 24,000 deaths a year, or about 66 people every day. This guide sets out what smoking does to your body, what a pack actually costs in Australia in 2026, what the tar and nicotine numbers on Chinese, Japanese and Korean packs do and don’t tell you, and where to get help if you want to stop.

How many Australians die from smoking?

The ANU study followed 178,000 people aged 45 and over in the Sax Institute’s 45 and Up Study and linked smoking to a higher risk of dying from 23 common causes. Its headline figures:

  • More than 24,000 deaths a year, about 66 a day.
  • Around one in four deaths between ages 45 and 74.
  • Compared with people who have never smoked, current smokers are 36 times more likely to die of chronic lung disease, 18 times more likely to die of lung cancer, twice as likely to die of stroke or heart disease and 60% more likely to die of dementia.

Smoking less is not the same as being safe. People in the study who smoked 1 to 14 cigarettes a day still had more than twenty times the risk of dying from chronic lung disease and more than ten times the risk of dying from lung cancer.

Fewer Australians smoke than ever before. The 2025 National Drug Strategy Household Survey found 5.6% of people aged 14 and over smoke daily, down from 19.5% in 2001, but that is still around 1.3 million daily smokers.

What smoking does to your body

Body system What smoking does
Lungs Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (emphysema and chronic bronchitis), lung cancer, worse asthma, more chest infections
Heart and blood vessels Heart attack, stroke and peripheral vascular disease; carbon monoxide in smoke cuts the oxygen your blood can carry
Cancer beyond the lungs Mouth, throat, oesophagus, bladder, kidney, pancreas and other cancers
Brain Higher risk of stroke and of dying with dementia
Everyday health Shortness of breath, coughing, slower healing, gum disease, earlier skin ageing

Second-hand smoke carries the same toxic chemicals, which is why smoking is banned in most enclosed public places and, in most states, in cars carrying children.

What a pack of cigarettes costs in Australia in 2026

Australia has some of the most expensive cigarettes in the world, mostly because of tobacco excise. From 1 September 2026 the excise-equivalent duty is $1.55274 per stick, about $31.05 of tax in every pack of 20 before GST. It rises twice a year with average earnings.

Tobacco in Australia’s September 2025 price survey found an average of $39.69 for a supervalue pack of 20, $54.99 for a mainstream pack and $60.72 for a premium pack. At those prices a pack a day costs roughly $14,500 to $22,000 a year.

Do lower tar numbers mean a safer cigarette?

No. This is the most common misunderstanding about cigarettes, and it matters for the packs we list, because Chinese, Japanese and Korean cigarettes print tar and nicotine figures that Australian packs no longer show.

In 2005 the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission made Philip Morris, British American Tobacco and Imperial Tobacco remove “light” and “mild” descriptors and the numbers used to suggest them. The ACCC’s reasoning was that smokers compensate for lower-yield cigarettes by inhaling more deeply, taking more puffs or smoking more of them, so they end up taking in more tar, nicotine and carbon monoxide than the pack says. The companies then funded a national campaign telling smokers that light and mild cigarettes are not a healthier option.

So read the numbers on a pack as a machine test result, not a health rating. For example:

Cigarette Tar / nicotine on the pack Size
Double Happiness Nanyang Classic (红双喜) 11 mg / 1.1 mg Regular
Furongwang Hard (芙蓉王) 11 mg / 1.2 mg Regular
Yuxi Soft (玉溪) 11 mg / 1.0 mg Regular
Panda Hard Classic (熊猫) 10 mg / 1.0 mg Regular
Chunghwa Double Mid-Slim (中华) 10 mg / 0.9 mg Mid-slim
Zhongnanhai 8mg (中南海) 8 mg / 0.7 mg Regular
Huanghelou 1916 Slim (黄鹤楼) 8 mg / 0.8 mg Slim
Marlboro Ice Blast 8 8 mg / 0.5 mg King size
Mevius Option Purple 5 5 mg / 0.5 mg Superslim
ESSE Change 4mg 4.0 mg / 0.3 mg Superslim

A Zhongnanhai 8mg, a Mevius 5 or an ESSE Change 4mg is not a third or half as harmful as a Chunghwa or a Double Happiness. The ANU study’s finding that even light daily smokers face many times the risk of lung disease points the same way.

Are slim, menthol and flavour-capsule cigarettes safer?

No evidence says so. Slim and superslim cigarettes such as Nanjing Xuanhemen, Huanghelou 1916 Slim, ESSE and Mevius slims carry lower printed yields for the same compensation reason above.

Menthol and capsule cigarettes, such as Marlboro W-Burst, Black Jack Supa Sawa and Peel, make smoke feel cooler and smoother. Researchers link menthol’s cooling effect to easier, deeper inhalation and to people wrongly believing these cigarettes are less harmful. A 2023 laboratory study of capsule cigarettes found that crushing the capsule raised measured tar, and that the liquids inside capsules are still poorly studied.

What happens when you quit

Quitting helps at any age, and the earlier the better. Queensland Health’s timeline for after your last cigarette:

Time since quitting What changes
20 minutes Heart rate drops
12 hours Carbon monoxide in the blood drops sharply
2 weeks to 3 months Circulation and lung function improve
1 to 9 months Coughing and shortness of breath ease
1 year Risk of coronary heart disease is about half that of a smoker

Where to get help quitting in Australia

  • Quitline: 13 7848 (13 QUIT). Free phone counselling in every state and territory; Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander counsellors are available on request.
  • Your GP or pharmacist can talk you through nicotine replacement therapy and prescription medicines, some of which are subsidised on the PBS.
  • The My QuitBuddy app and quit.org.au have free planning tools and daily support.

Smoking in Australia: common questions

How many people die from smoking in Australia each year?

More than 24,000, about 66 a day, according to the ANU’s 2025 study in BMC Medicine.

Are light or low-tar cigarettes healthier?

No. Smokers compensate for lower yields, which is why the ACCC had “light” and “mild” removed from Australian packs in 2005. The numbers printed on imported packs are machine test results, not health ratings.

Are menthol or capsule cigarettes less harmful?

No. Menthol makes smoke easier to inhale deeply, and one study found crushing a flavour capsule raised measured tar.

How much tax is in a pack of cigarettes in Australia?

From 1 September 2026 the duty is $1.55274 per stick, about $31.05 for a pack of 20, plus GST.

What is the best way to quit smoking?

Combining counselling with medication gives most people the best chance. Start with Quitline on 13 7848 or your GP.

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