Governments have been urged to reconsider flavour bans, high taxes and other restrictions on vaping after research found New Zealand’s smoking decline accelerated fivefold as vaping became more widely used.
Smoke Free Sweden said the findings strengthened the case for keeping smoke-free nicotine products accessible to adults who smoke, while maintaining controls aimed at preventing youth use.
The intervention follows an analysis published in The Lancet Regional Health – Western Pacific, which found that the annual rate of decline in adult daily smoking in New Zealand rose from 3.5 per cent before 2018 to 17.9 per cent between 2018 and 2023.
The change coincided with the rapid growth of vaping, clearer regulation of vaping products and government support for vaping as a way for adults to move away from cigarettes.
“This is a public health result that governments around the world should study carefully,” said Smoke Free Sweden leader Dr Delon Human.
“New Zealand’s smoking decline accelerated fivefold after vaping became widely used as a way out of smoking. That is an extraordinary change with the potential to prevent thousands of cases of cancer, heart disease and lung disease.”
Māori smoking rate halved
The study found an even larger change among Māori adults, who have historically had higher smoking rates than the wider population.
Their annual rate of decline accelerated from 2.2 per cent to 13.3 per cent, while Māori smoking prevalence halved over the period examined.
The researchers also reported that youth smoking remained at historically low levels and noted that youth vaping had fallen following tighter measures focused on young people.
Smoke Free Sweden said the combination of adult access and youth protections offered a possible model for other countries seeking to reduce smoking without treating all nicotine products in the same way.
The group drew parallels with Sweden, where widespread access to snus, nicotine pouches and vaping products has accompanied a fall in smoking to below five per cent.
“Sweden and New Zealand have shown that rapid progress becomes possible when smokers have acceptable alternatives to cigarettes,” Human said.
Warning over taxes and flavour bans
The comments come as governments in several countries consider tighter controls on vaping, including flavour restrictions, higher taxes and limits on how products can be sold or displayed.
Smoke Free Sweden argued that measures which make alternatives less accessible or affordable could discourage smokers from switching or make it harder for former smokers to remain smoke-free.
“Countries that ban flavours, restrict safer products or tax them like cigarettes risk slowing the very transition that could save millions of lives,” Human said.
The Lancet analysis found that the faster fall in smoking coincided with the growth of vaping, alongside wider tobacco-control measures and changes in cigarette prices.
The findings have strengthened calls for policies that preserve access to alternatives for adults who smoke while maintaining safeguards designed to limit youth use.
Smoke Free Sweden said the findings should prompt policymakers to examine whether restrictions intended to reduce youth vaping could also make it harder for adults to move away from cigarettes.
