Smoking data are reported from the 2013 New Zealand Census of Population and Dwellings. These results are compared with findings from the 2006 Census, for estimating recent changes in smoking prevalence. In 2013, 15.1% of New Zealand adults aged ≥15 years reported that they were regular smokers (smoked ≥1 cigarettes per day), which translates to a 22.5% drop in smokers since 2006. Large declines in age-standardised smoking prevalence occurred among both genders in almost all ethnicity groups. However, disparities persist in smoking prevalence between population subgroups: Māori continue to have the highest age-standardised smoking prevalence (32.4%), and smoking prevalence is high among Māori women, both young adults and middle-aged. There was encouraging evidence of an acceleration in the decline of smoking prevalence between 2006 and 2013. For instance, the decrease in smoking prevalence of young adults was much greater between 2006 and 2013 than between 1996 and 2006.
