The number of smokers in Indonesia continues to rise from year to year. Based on the latest data from Basic Health Research (Riset Kesehatan Dasar) a total of 58.8 million Indonesians aged over ten years smoked in 2013, more than ten times the population of neighbouring Singapore. In one year, these smokers lit around 225 billion cigarettes making Indonesia the third-largest tobacco consumer after China and India. More alarming, about four million of these Indonesian smokers are children between the age of 10 to 14 years.

Read more ›

According to the Indonesian Ministry of Health, approximately one-third of Indonesians aged over ten years smoke (36 percent), with 67 percent of men and 4.5 percent of women smoking some form of tobacco. While Indonesia is the fifth-largest tobacco market in the world, it is the only World Health Organization (WHO) member state in Southeast Asia that has not ratified the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC). The FCTC was developed in response to the globalisation of the tobacco industry and tobacco use.

Read more ›

The tobacco and cigarette business in Indonesia is big business. Two tobacco companies are positioned within the top ten of largest companies listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange (in terms of market capitalization) as there exists a huge market for cigarettes in Indonesia with some 65 percent of Indonesian men being smokers (due to Indonesia's socio-cultural context few Indonesian women smoke). Moreover, the Indonesian government seems unwilling to limit cigarette consumption (both active and passive smoking) among the population.

Read more ›

One of the last decisions of the Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono administration before being replaced by the new Joko Widodo-led administration was to raise the tobacco excise by an average of 8.7 percent per 1 January 2015. This excise will be applied to all tobacco-related manufactured products. The higher excise, stipulated by a Finance Ministry decree, will boost state income and will also help to curb smoking. About 65 percent of Indonesian men smoke, supported by the cheap price of a package of cigarettes.

Read more ›

Widespread cigarette consumption among Indonesians (especially men) can have a negative impact on the country’s current demographic bonus. One of Indonesia’s strongpoints in terms of economic make-up is that it has a large and young, thus potentially productive, population. Indonesians in the productive age (15 to 64 years) outnumber those that are categorized as youth (below 15 years) and elderly (over 65 years). This large productive group should provide a boost to Indonesia’s economy in the next two decades.

Read more ›