The excise duty on Tobacco is to be raised by the Government, which will make cigarettes more expensive.

The price of cigarettes will escalate 10% on an immediate basis and another 10% in January, up until 2012. The price of a pack of 20 cigarettes will be raised by about $1 to around $11.

Loose tobacco products will face a 24% price increase next January, followed by two further 10% increases in subsequent years.

The move aims to save lives and is a clear indication that the Government is serious about reducing the increasing death toll from smoking, revealed Associate Health Minister Tariana Turia, who is a strong anti-smoking campaigner.

The move will make the price of cigarettes high enough to save hundreds of lives. One in five New Zealanders are regular smokers, Turia revealed it to the Parliament.

She said, "It's very simple. All smokers who buy tobacco will face the price rises. The more someone smokes, the more they pay, and the bigger the incentive for them to quit".

Half of the New Zealanders wanted smoking to be banned outright by 2020, according to a survey published in January this year.