South Africa’s smoking fee in 2025 stays stubbornly excessive. This is the discovering from a non-profit organisation known as Smoke Free Sweden. According to knowledge launched on their social media channels, South Africa’s smoking fee in 2025 sits at greater than 25%. That’s 1 / 4 of the whole inhabitants nonetheless smoking dangerous tobacco merchandise.
Meanwhile, a nation like New Zealand – with a broadly related financial make-up and inhabitants – has seen its smoking fee in 2025 drop to only 6.8%. In an insightful report contrasting the 2 international locations approaches, it says New Zealand is a number one instance of hurt discount and safer options.
SOUTH AFRICAN SMOKING RATE IN 2025
Smoke Free Sweden explains that each nations suffered from excessive cigarette smoking prior to now. And but, New Zealand is near turning into the primary nation worldwide to realize a 5% smoking fee in 2025. In distinction, South Africa remains stubbornly addicted to tobacco products. In 2021, 30% of South Africa’s grownup inhabitants smoked. That 12 months, there have been 42 000 recorded coronary heart, lung and cancer-related deaths within the nation. Four-years’ on and these numbers have solely decreased barely.
In a bid to include the smoking fee in 2025, the South African Health Department has applied conventional measures. Excise tax will increase, in addition to promoting and public-smoking bans. However, these have prolonged to various nicotine merchandise, too. Crucially, these insurance policies are in opposition to New Zealand’s successes, says the report. From one of many highest tobacco smoking nations on the earth in 1983, the Kiwis are actually the least.
IS VAPING ACTUALLY SAFER?
And the report says it’s all the way down to the Kiwi authorities’s lively promotion of vaping as a consumer-friendly tobacco cessation software. 78% of day by day vapers in New Zealand had been ex-smokers, based on the New Zealand Ministry of Health (MOH). The MOH launched a ‘Vape to Quit’ marketing campaign that was extremely profitable in lowering the smoking fee in 2025. According to the UK Royal College of Physicians, the hurt of long-term vaping solely exceeds 5%, in comparison with 95% for tobacco cigarettes. While nicotine pouches, patches and snus are even much less dangerous in the long term.
DO YOU THINK SOUTH AFRICA HAS A SMOKING PROBLEM?
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