Health consciousness

IBISWorld forecasts that the level of health consciousness will increase by 2.0% in 2023-24, to 140.0 index points. A large anticipated decline in the smoking rate and per capita alcohol consumption will drive the increase in health consciousness during the year. Sports and active recreation participation is projected to rise and the obesity levels are expected to decline slightly. However, apparent fruit and vegetable consumption is forecast to decline, placing pressure on the rise in health consciousness. These factors are projected to contribute to the overall rise in health consciousness in the current year.

New Zealand's adult population has become increasingly health conscious over the past few years. A declining smoking rate and per capital alcohol consumption has supported rising health consciousness over the period. Ongoing tobacco tax increases have largely driven falling smoking rates. As a result of these tax increases, there has been a larger decline in smoking among younger age groups than in older age groups, as younger consumers are typically more price-sensitive.

Fruit and vegetable consumption has declined over the past few years. However, this trend was largely due to constrained production volumes among vegetable growers, which caused subsequent falls in vegetable consumption. Nevertheless, growing consumer awareness of the importance of healthy eating has supported fruit and vegetable consumption over the period. This rising awareness has caused consumer diets to change, with many individuals increasing their intake of healthy food products, such as fruit and vegetables and lowering their intake of fats, sugars and salts. These trends have resulted in the level of obesity decreasing slightly in recent years, boosting health consciousness. Overall, IBISWorld forecasts that health consciousness will increase at a compound annual rate of 3.8% over the five years through 2023-24.