Smokefree 2025 was adopted in New Zealand in 2011 with the goal of reducing the nation’s smoking rate to below 5% going into 2026. Public health researchers say there is little chance of it happening, as 82,000 people would have to quit smoking before the end of the year.
The latest data from the Annual Health Survey shows there are currently 300,000 daily smokers in the country, and University of Otago Research Fellow Calvin Cochran says to meet the Smokefree goal by New Year’s Eve, 27% of those people would need to quit. He says the government initiative providing free vape ‘starter’ kits to smokers wanting to stop will help fewer than 500, according to his team’s research.
Last year, the Coalition government repealed three areas of Smokefree law, including denicotinization of tobacco products and banning the sale of tobacco products to those born after January 1, 2009.
