Cost of Smoking

What does smoking cost today?

Cost of smoking today, by age group

The price of a pack is only part of the picture. How much someone spends also depends on how many cigarettes they smoke each day, and the latest estimates show just how quickly the costs can add up.

The average daily smoker spends an estimated $10,619 a year on cigarettes. That’s around $29 a day, or more than $200 a week. Over a year, that could make a meaningful difference in savings or other household expenses.

Spending also varies by age. Smokers aged 55 to 64 spend the most on average, at an estimated $12,888 a year, while those aged 18 to 24 spend around $6,535. Younger smokers may spend less each year, but the longer someone continues smoking, the more those costs can accumulate.

To understand the longer-term impact, we looked beyond today’s spending to estimate what cigarettes could cost over the years ahead.

What smoking could still cost to age 85

What smoking could still cost up to age 85, by age in 2026

The long-term figures highlight how much cigarette spending can accumulate over time. Under the central projection, someone who starts smoking daily at 17 and continues until age 85 could spend around $2.5 million on cigarettes in projected future dollars. When adjusted for inflation, that lifetime cost is estimated at $871,090 in 2026 dollars.

The projected cost remains substantial for older smokers, too. A 30-year-old who continues smoking daily could spend another $1.61 million by age 85 under the central projection, while a 60-year-old could spend another $429,401. These estimates reflect projected future prices, rather than what that spending would be worth in today’s money.

Future cigarette prices make the long-term estimates less certain, particularly for younger smokers who have more years of spending ahead. For a 17-year-old, the projected remaining cost ranges from around $1.46 million under the low scenario to $4.59 million under the high scenario. These are estimates rather than predictions, and assume the person continues smoking daily until age 85.

Even smoking occasionally can add up over time. Someone who smokes mainly when drinking, for example, could spend around $2,586 a year on cigarettes by getting through just one pack each weekend, based on the current price of $49.73 per pack.

The Generational Bill

The lifetime cost of smoking by generation

The cost of smoking looks different across generations, partly because each has experienced different cigarette prices over their lifetime. However, when past spending is adjusted for inflation, the figures show how substantial the financial impact can be for both older and younger smokers.

The estimated lifetime cost in 2026 dollars rises from $362,138 for Baby Boomers to $560,039 for Gen X and $714,383 for Millennials. For Gen Z, the projected figure reaches $833,597. Someone starting smoking at 17 in 2026 could face an estimated lifetime cost of $871,090 in today’s money.

For younger generations, much of that cost is still ahead. In the representative Gen Z scenario, a 24-year-old who started smoking in 2019 has spent an estimated $37,692 so far, with a further $1.98 million in projected spending under the central scenario. This illustrates how a recurring expense can become a much larger financial commitment over time.

These figures assume daily smoking from age 17 to 85, with no quitting, and use current tobacco excise settings for the projections. Treat them as estimates, not predictions of what any individual will spend.

How much could you save by quitting?

What each decade of smoking costs, and what quitting saves, for someone who starts at 17 in 2026

While the projected lifetime cost of smoking is substantial, the figures also show how much future spending could be avoided by quitting. The earlier someone quits, the more years of cigarette spending they could potentially avoid.

For someone who starts smoking at 17, quitting at age 30 could avoid an estimated $779,164 in future spending, measured in 2026 dollars. That potential saving falls to $548,269 for someone who quits at 50 and $399,176 for someone who quits at 60.

Quitting later in life can still make a difference to your finances. Someone who quits at 70 could avoid an estimated $246,182 in future cigarette spending, while quitting at 80 could save around $94,855. These estimates show that it’s not only younger smokers who could benefit financially from stopping.

Of course, the benefits of quitting extend beyond money. But looking at the potential savings can provide another perspective on the long-term impact of smoking, particularly when household budgets are under pressure.

What if you invested the money instead?

What the money could have become if invested instead, by generation

The money spent on cigarettes could also have had the potential to grow if it had been invested. The outcome would depend on when the money was invested, how much was contributed, and the returns achieved over time.

For example, a Baby Boomer’s estimated $139,444 in lifetime cigarette spending so far could have grown to around $409,561 by the end of 2026 under the illustrative 7.3% annual return scenario. At a 9% annual return, the figure would be $584,338.

Younger generations have more time for potential investment growth to compound. Under the model, a Gen Z smoker’s lifetime cigarette spending could grow to around $4.57 million at a 7.3% annual return, or $9.46 million at 9%, by age 85, measured in 2026 dollars.

These figures illustrate what may be possible under the model’s assumptions, rather than guaranteed outcomes. Investment returns can vary, and actual results would depend on market performance and other factors. They are not financial advice, but they highlight the opportunity cost of spending money on cigarettes over many years.

Who is still smoking?

Daily smoking, people aged 14 and over, 1991 to 2025

^{Source: AIHW, National Drug Strategy Household Survey 2025, Tables 1.1 and 1.3. The 1991 figure includes people who smoked on most days, and in 1993 only people aged 20 and over were asked. The fall between 2022-23 and 2025 is statistically significant. Numbers of people are AIHW estimates, published from 2001.}

The proportion of Australians who smoke daily has fallen considerably over the past few decades. In 2025, 5.6% of Australians aged 14 and over smoked daily, down from 19.5% in 2001. The estimated number of daily smokers has also dropped from around three million to 1.3 million.

Smoking and vaping habits vary by age. Among 18- to 24-year-olds, 8.3% vape daily, compared with 2.7% who smoke daily. Vaping is also common among 25- to 29-year-olds, with 13.4% currently vaping. However, from age 40 onwards, daily smoking is more common than daily vaping.

Nicotine pouch use is also concentrated among younger adults, with 8.4% of 18 to 24-year-olds reporting use in the past 12 months, compared with 1.8% of Australians aged 14 and over.

While daily smoking has become less common, the cost remains significant for those who continue. These age differences also highlight how nicotine use is changing across generations.

Which states have the highest smoking rates?

Daily smoking by state and territory, 2022-23, ranked

Smoking rates also vary across Australia. The latest state and territory figures for 2022-23 show the Northern Territory had the highest daily smoking rate (13.1%), followed by Tasmania (11.3%) and Queensland (10.5%). The Australian Capital Territory had the lowest rate, at 4.8%.

Despite these differences, daily smoking rates have fallen across every state and territory since 2001. The ACT recorded the largest relative decline, down 74% from 18.4%, while Tasmania saw the smallest decline, at 45%.

Based on the latest available state figures from 2022-23, daily smokers in New South Wales, Queensland and Victoria would each spend between around $4.6 billion and $5.5 billion a year on cigarettes at legal retail prices. Smoking rates have since fallen, and the latest national figures from 2025 provide a more up-to-date picture of the potential annual cost across Australia.

Nationally, the estimated potential spend is around $13.8 billion a year, or $38 million a day, based on the latest 2025 smoking figures. However, this is a modelled estimate rather than a measure of actual spending. It assumes all cigarettes are bought at legal retail prices. Still, tobacco tax receipts have nearly halved in a year, suggesting actual spending on legal cigarettes is likely to be around half this estimate.