(Bloomberg) -- The number of New Zealand smokers has dropped to a record low as the government attempts to make the country smoke-free.

The smoking rate fell to 8% of adults smoking daily in the year through July, down from 9.4% a year earlier, according to the Annual New Zealand Health Survey published by the Ministry of Health Thursday in Wellington. At the same time, 8.3% of adults are now vaping daily, an increase from 6.2% a year ago.

“The number of people smoking fell by 56,000 over the past year, despite the pressures and stress of the pandemic, and smoking rates are now half of what they were 10 years ago,” Associate Health Minister Ayesha Verrall said in a statement. She cited government funding of services to help people quit.

“We know these policies are leading to more quit attempts, with roughly 84,000 people attempting to quit smoking in the past 12 months.”

The government is trying to create a smoke-free generation, initially by reducing the prevalence of smoking to less than 5% in all population groups by 2025. It also plans to pass legislation that from 2027 will raise the legal smoking age from 18 by one year every year, effectively banning the sale of tobacco to people born after 2008.

Verrall said the new law will decrease the number of retail outlets able to sell tobacco, drastically reduce the level of nicotine in cigarettes to non-addictive levels and ensure the next generation are never sold tobacco.

Officials estimate smoking kills as many as 5,000 people a year, accounting for 15% of all deaths. 

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