Te Hauora O Te Hiku O Te Ika Trust Aukati Kaipaipa coordinator Rikki Rolleston said she was "thrilled" smoking was falling out of favour.
The major concern for Northland smokers wanting to quit was health reasons, she said. But another 10 per cent price hike in January would make a real financial difference too.
"I would envisage we are going to get more people wanting to quit. Price is really having an impact."
The Far North traditionally had one of the country's highest smoking rates, particularly among Maori.
"We're parallel with the Gisborne area amongst Maori, with about 40-50 per cent."
This time of year was always busy as smokers made New Year's resolutions, she said.
The Government's official target is that New Zealand will be substantially "smokefree" by 2025, which is generally understood to mean a prevalence of less than 5 per cent. The mid-term target is 10 per cent by 2018.
Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) spokesman Michael Colhoun welcomed the reduction.
Mr Colhoun has urged the Government to introduce further tobacco control measures, such as plain packaging, a ban on smoking in cars containing children, and axing duty-free tobacco discounts for travellers.
He has also called for registration of tobacco sellers, and increased government control of tobacco ingredients, such as a reduced nicotine level and a ban on additives.
Quitline chief executive Paula Snowden said the drop in the smoking rate was "a monumental shift".
"There are over 135,000 fewer smokers in New Zealand.
"That's the equivalent of the entire population of Hamilton," she said.