Australians’ vices, including drinking, smoking and illicit drugs, have been revealed in the most recent HILDA survey.
The Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia survey tracks the identical 17,000 Australians annually, with participants followed over the course of their lifetime. The survey collects information on many facets of life and is the one study of its kind in Australia.
Smoking is declining, but young persons are more prone to vape
There has been substantial progress in reducing smoking rates since 2001, when 25% of males and 20% of females aged 15 and over reported being smokers. In 2021, these rates had dropped to 16% for males and 12% for females. This likely reflects the consequences of tobacco control measures, in addition to increased public awareness of the harmful health effects of smoking.
Declines have been biggest for young people, which reflects the undeniable fact that it is less complicated to stop the take-up of smoking than it’s to get smokers to quit. Indeed, HILDA shows that over 60% of people that quit smoking take it up again inside three years.
The progress on reducing smoking appears to have been somewhat offset by the rise in vaping or using e-cigarettes. In 2021, 14.1% of individuals aged 15 and over reported having tried vaping, and 16% of those people vaped each day.
Vaping may be very much a teenager’s activity. It is commonest amongst people aged 15 to 24, and likewise relatively common amongst people aged 25 to 29. Many individuals who report vaping also report being smokers.
Binge drinking stays common, especially for young men
Risky drinking, here defined as often consuming five or more standard drinks on each occasion, is comparatively common, applying to over 20% of males and about 10% of females who ever drink alcohol.
After rising barely between 2003 and 2009, there has since been a small decline on this measure of dangerous drinking for males. There has been little change on this measure for females.
Another measure of dangerous drinking, presented within the figure, is “excessive binge drinking”, defined as drinking at the very least five (if female) or seven (if male) drinks per occasion at the very least twice monthly. This measure of dangerous drinking is more prevalent, nevertheless it has declined for each men and women since 2007.
Risky drinking is commonest amongst men aged 20 to 24, followed by men aged 25 to 29. However, for each men and women, regular (but not necessarily “dangerous”) consumption of alcohol (drinking on five or more days per week) is more common in older age groups, and highest amongst people aged 60 and over.
30 to 34 year-olds had the most important increase in using drugs
The HILDA survey shows use of illicit drugs, similar to marijuana, methamphetamine and cocaine, increased between 2017 and 2021, with annual use increasing from 15.7% to 17.6% for males and from 8.6% to 11% for females.
People aged 20 to 24 are the almost certainly to make use of illicit drugs, but the rise in use was best for people aged 30 to 34.
The use of multiple forms of illicit drugs, often known as polydrug use, is common for users of methamphetamine, cocaine and ecstasy, but much less common for users of marijuana.
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