Tairawhiti District Health Board says it's encouraged by a decline in smoking rates among young people in the district.
Details from Statistics New Zealand's 2014 census show the DHB has the highest proportion of regular smokers, at almost 24 percent, which was down from almost 30 percent in 2006.
DHB chief executive Jim Green said the DHB had made a big effort to reduce smoking.
He said smoking rates for young people were dropping quite considerably which was a sign that anti-smoking campaigns were working.
Mr Green said it meant the next generation in Te Tai Rawhiti was going to be much healthier.
The latest census details also show that the population of the health board district has fallen by almost 2 percent since 2006.
