Increase in cigarettes, tobacco available in NZ shops

New figures released show the number of cigarettes on New Zealand shop shelves have increased by 5 per cent.

Nearly 2.5 billion cigarettes were "available for consumption" but this was much lower than the peak in 1977 when the total stood at 6.3 billion. Cigarette numbers had been below the 3 billion mark for the past five years. Tobacco volumes rose 5.6 per cent. Loose tobacco papers made up about 27 per cent of the cigarette-tobacco total, a level similar to 2004.

Statistics New Zealand bases its annual survey on duty-paid tobacco products cleared for local consumption.

- NZPA