 Tobacco consumption in New Zealand peaked in the mid-1970s when 60% of the population were smokers.By 2011 that number had fallen to 20% of the population, thanks to stringent tobacco control laws which are amongst the world's strictest.However, despite these laws, the number of smokers appears to be increasing as the global economy worsens and a recent spate of natural disasters have seen an increase in tobacco sales and although more males smoke than females, this gap is slowly narrowing.