The country’s tobacco tax revenue has been cut by almost half as more and more New Zealanders quit smoking, reports Stuff.

The New Zealand Treasury has released the Crown accounts for the seven month period leading up to 31 January 2021 which show that the revenue from customs and excise duty fell by around AUD 700 million (USD 537.7 million) compared to the same period the previous year. The decline, which was steeper than expected, was mainly due to a 47.8 per cent decline in tobacco duty, which can be explained by the reduced demand for tobacco products, according to Stuff.

Close to half a million people or one in eight adults in New Zealand are smokers of combustible cigarettes, which has declined from one in three adults over the past 40 years. Numbers from Stats NZ also show that rising prices of tobacco products could be leading to lower smoking rates. According to Stuff, the price of cigarettes and tobacco has risen 221 per cent in the last 10 years.