• In 2012, a packet of 20 cigarettes costs around $14.50. That means if you smoke a pack a day you will spend more than $5,000 a year on cigarettes.
• In 2012, a 30g packet of loose tobacco costs around $31.50. Someone smoking a pouch a week would spend more than $1,600 a year on tobacco.

How much is smoking costing you? Use this calculator to find out.

• More money is saved by people giving up smoking than money collected through tobacco tax.
• A healthier smokefree population results in greater economic gains from increased productivity, reduced absenteeism and an increased workforce.
• Current tobacco excise revenues in New Zealand amount to approximately $1 billion per year and have been at that level for some years. This is just under 2% of total tax revenues.
• Of the approximate $1.6 billion per year retail spending on tobacco products, approximately 70% is accounted for by taxation, including GST as well as tobacco taxes.
• The average amount spent by New Zealand‘s 750,000 smokers in 2007 was approximately $2,135 each per year, of which approximately $1,500 was tax revenue.
• The New Zealand government collected a total of $842 million in tobacco excise tax in 2005.
• The tangible costs of smoking to New Zealand in 2005 were around NZ$1.7 billion, or about 1.1 percent of Gross Domestic Product. This includes costs incurred because of lost production due to early death, lost production due to smoking-caused illness, and smoking-related health-care costs.