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This section explores use of different types of tobacco products in the Australian population of people who smoke. Factory-made cigarettes and roll-your-own tobacco are the most common forms of tobacco used in Australia. Use of these products is explored over time, and by age group.
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Use of other combustible products, including cigarillos, cigars, waterpipe tobacco, and pipe tobacco is also presented, and use of smokeless tobacco products and unbranded ‘chop-chop’ tobacco are briefly described.
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This section does not describe the prevalence of use of e-cigarettes; instead see Section 18.3.
1.12.1 Use of factory-made cigarettes and roll-your-own tobacco
Most tobacco consumed in Australia, as in most Western countries, is in the form of factory-made cigarettes (FMCs). Roll-your-own (RYO) tobacco is the second most popular tobacco product type, with data from 2006 showing that about 15% of Australians who smoked used a combination factory-made cigarettes and RYO tobacco, and about 9% reported exclusive use of RYO.
More recent research suggested a changing pattern of use of RYO among the total Australian population. An analysis of National Drug Strategy Household data between 2004 and 2016 found that use of FMCs declined from 2004 to 2016. Over the same period, the overall proportion of the Australian population who smoked RYO remained stable while the proportion exclusively smoking RYO increased significantly.1 This coincided with a dramatic increase in smaller RYO pouches on the Australian market with a lower upfront purchase price (see Section 13.4.2.4). Over a similar time period, Wilkinson et al.2 used time series analyses to demonstrate that the prevalence of FMC use declined between 2001 and 2017 in Australia, particularly after major tax increases in 2010 and then annual increases from 2013. In contrast, the prevalence of RYO use increased between 2010 and 2013, and remained steady through to 2017.
An analysis of data from the Australian arm of the International Tobacco Control Survey showed that, among cigarette smokers, any use of RYO tobacco was significantly increased between 2007/2008 and 2020, where the odds of RYO use (compared to exclusive FMC use) were more than 3 times higher in 2020 than 2007/2008.3 This increase was particularly pronounced for young adult cigarette smokers.
In more recent years, data from the National Drug Strategy Household Survey has shown that the proportion of people who currently smoked cigarettes (FMC or RYO) who exclusively used RYO tobacco has risen.4 Figure 1.12.1 shows that exclusive use of RYO tobacco among cigarette smokers was steady until 2010, then increased by 2 to 3 percentage points each survey year to 15.9% in 2022–23. Combined use of FMCs and RYO has fluctuated in recent years, with 28.5% of cigarette users reporting combined FMC and RYO use in 2022-23. In contrast, exclusive use of FMC has decreased from 73.7% in 2007 to 55.6% in 2022-23. In 2022-23, four out of every five (80.4%) cigarette smokers reported using FMCs, and more than two out of five reported using RYO (44.4%) tobacco.
1.12.1.1 Use of factory-made cigarettes and roll-your-own tobacco by age group
Figure 1.12.2 shows exclusive and combined use of FMC and RYO cigarettes by age group, among those aged 14+ years who smoke cigarettes (that is, totals equal 100% within each age group in each year).
Until approximately 2007, there were few differences in tobacco use by age group: exclusive FMC was preferred by at least two thirds of cigarette users, followed by combined FMC and RYO use, and exclusive RYO use comprised 10% or less of cigarette users. After 2007, the popularity of exclusive FMC use declined among those aged 18-24 years, 25–29 years, and 30–39 years, as both exclusive and combined use of RYO. In 2022–23, less than 50% of cigarette smokers aged 18–39 years exclusively used FMC tobacco.
A similar pattern began to emerge for older age groups in later years, with a more gradual decline in the popularity of exclusive FMC use among those aged 40–59 years. Use of RYO tobacco began to increase among those aged 60–69 years in 2019 and 2022–23, whereas use of FMC and RYO cigarettes has fluctuated over time for those aged 70 years or older, but was not meaningfully different in 2022–23 to previous years.
1.12.2 Use of other combustible tobacco products
Figure 1.12.3 shows the proportion of current smokers who had used different types of combustible tobacco products, other than FMCs and RYO tobacco, at least occasionally in the previous 12 months, from 2013 to 2022–23.
Cigarillos were the third most popular (behind FMCs and RYO) form of tobacco product until 2019, with about 10% of current smokers reporting use of cigarillos in the past year. In 2022–23 this declined significantly from 10.6% in 2019 to 4.3% in 2022–23. About 5% reported use of cigars in the past year, consistent with previous years. There were small but significant increases in the proportion of people who smoked who had used waterpipe tobacco (e.g. shisha, hookah, or nargillas) and pipe tobacco between 2019 and 2022-23: waterpipe use increased from 4.2% to 5.9% and pipe use increased from 2.2% to 3.7%.
Regular use of these products was uncommon in 2022–23. Table 1.12.1 shows the frequency of use in the past 12 months of cigarillos, cigars, waterpipe tobacco, and pipe tobacco, as a proportion of all people aged 14+ years who currently smoked. Less than half of all people who reported using these tobacco products in the past 12 months did so on a daily basis.
Among Australians aged 18+ who were current users of these products, the large majority also smoked cigarettes. In 2022–23, 84.7% of those who smoked cigars, 93.0% of those who smoked pipes, 92.9% of those that smoked cigarillos, and 90.1% of those that used waterpipe also currently smoked cigarettes (FMC and/or RYO). More than four in five (93.0%) of those who had smoked bidis (small, thin, hand-rolled cigarettes) more than one year ago and 100% of those who had smoked bidis in the past year also currently smoked cigarettes.5
1.12.2.1 Historical data use of cigarettes and cigars and pipe tobacco
Data on prevalence of use of different types of tobacco products were collected by Cancer Council Victoria (formerly the Anti-Cancer Council of Victoria) in regular surveys undertaken between 1974 and 1998. Table 1.12.2 shows that between 1974 and 1998 male smokers were more likely than female smokers to use pipes or cigars exclusively.
1.12.3 Current use of unbranded loose tobacco (‘chop-chop’)
Chop-chop is finely cut, unbranded ‘black market’ tobacco which has been grown, distributed and sold without government intervention or taxation.6 Due to its comparative cheapness, some smokers have adopted it as an alternative to, or in addition to, smoking manufactured tobacco.7,8 Previous analyses have shown prevalence of chop-chop use significantly declined among Australian adults from 2004 to 2013. 8,9 Two small surveys undertaken in New South Wales in the early 2000s showed varying degrees of penetration of chop-chop in the community.7,11
Longitudinal questions about the prevalence of usage of chop-chop have been asked in the National Drug Strategy Household Survey since 2004. In 2022–23, 23.3% of people who currently smoked aged 14+ years had smoked unbranded chop-chop tobacco in their lifetime, a significant increase from 17.7% in 2019. Current use of chop-chop increased from 4.9% of people who currently smoked in 2019 to 9.0% in 2022–23.4
Chop-chop is discussed further in Chapter 3, Section 3.27.2 and in greatest detail in InDepth 13A, Section 13A.5.3.
1.12.4 Current use of smokeless tobacco products
Although widely used overseas,12 smokeless tobacco products (those intended for sucking or chewing) are little used in Australia and data concerning the prevalence of their use are sparse. The import, sales and marketing of smokeless tobacco products in Australia is controlled by national legislation.13
Results from the 2022–23 National Drug Strategy Household Survey showed that very small numbers of Australians 14 years and older reported using chewing tobacco (0.5%), snus (0.4%), or snuff (0.3%) in the 12 months prior to completing the questionnaire.4 Reported use of these products appeared higher among males than females, and higher among people who currently used smoked tobacco products compared to those who did not.
Leaves from naturally occurring nicotine-containing plants were chewed by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples prior to the introduction of conventional tobacco products in the 18th century, first by Indonesian fishermen, and later by European settlers. In some Indigenous communities ‘bush’ tobaccos and manufactured loose or plug tobaccos are still chewed, either alone or in combination, but overall prevalence of use of these substances is extremely low.8,14-17 Tobacco chewing among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples is discussed further in Chapter 8, Section 8.5.
For a detailed discussion of smokeless tobacco, see InDepth 18A.
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References
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2. Wilkinson AL, Scollo MM, Wakefield MA, Spittal MJ, Chaloupka FJ, et al. Smoking prevalence following tobacco tax increases in Australia between 2001 and 2017: an interrupted time-series analysis. Lancet Public Health, 2019. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31759897
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