Wellington  - The number of New Zealanders who smoke daily has fallen to a record low of 18.7 per cent of the population aged 15 and over, according to official figures released Friday.

The rate is down from more than 25 per cent a decade ago and 23.4 per cent in 2003 and is the lowest since the Health Ministry began monitoring tobacco use in the 1970s.

"This shows that initiatives over time like prohibiting smoking in indoor workplaces, including bars and restaurants, banning tobacco advertising and sponsorships, and subsidizing nicotine replacement therapy do work," said Prime Minister Helen Clark, who introduced the first anti-smoking legislation as health minister in 1990.

Clark said that every fall of 1 per cent in smoking prevalence equated to about 30,000 fewer smokers in New Zealand.

The Health Ministry survey showed that smoking by early teenagers is also declining sharply, from 28.6 per cent in 1999 to 12.8 per cent last year.

Indigenous Maoris remain New Zealand's heaviest smokers with nearly 35 per cent of adult men and four out of 10 women continuing to smoke daily, though these rates are also falling. (dpa)