§ Mr. Peter BottomleyTo ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will list the information available to her on the years that other countries introduced bans on tobacco
Country Final year of data before ban Smoking prevalence in that year Prevalence in most recent year for which data is available Percentage points by which smoking prevalence has fallen since ban Percentage points by which smoking prevalence has fallen in the United Kingdom over similar period Per cent. Per cent. Per cent. Per cent. Norway 1975 43 35 (1992) 8 12 Finland 1977 29 26 (1985) 3 8 Canada 1989 32 30 (1990) 2 2 (1988–90) New Zealand 1990 28 27 (1992) 1 2 Bans on tobacco advertising came into effect in Australia in 1992 and France in 1993. It is too early to estimate the changes in smoking prevalence since these bans were introduced.
The most recent available comparison of retail prices and levels of taxation for cigarettes in these countries is:
Country Average retail price of 20 cigarettes (October 1992) Total taxes £ £ Norway 3.46 2.37 Finland 2.33 1.72 Canada 2.68 1.84 New Zealand 1.78 1.20 Australia 1.53 0.92 France 1.32 0.94 United Kingdom 2.23 1.69