Manya Rathore
Research expert covering India
Tobacco industry in Indonesia - statistics & facts
Indonesia has one of the highest smoking rates in the world and is one of the biggest producers of tobacco worldwide. Despite a ban on tobacco purchases for those under the age of 18, many Indonesian teenagers have started consuming tobacco products largely driven by curiosity. In 2023, the smoking prevalence in Indonesia stood at around 38 percent. It was estimated that the prevalence would continue to increase and reach approximately 38.6 percent by 2029.
While tax revenue and price increases are important steps to ease the country's pressure, the Indonesian government also needs to focus on reducing its smoking prevalence. The fact that cheap cigarettes are a major contributor to Indonesia's tobacco epidemic must also be emphasized. In 2023, a pack of cigarettes in Indonesia was around 21,000 Indonesian rupiahs for kretek cigarettes and 28,000 rupiahs for white cigarettes. There is still a long way to go before Indonesia's tobacco consumption is drastically reduced. Decreasing the price gap between the most and lowest-priced cigarette products and enacting the highest legal tax rates seem to be the preferred recommendations by Indonesian health organizations.
Kretek - the Indonesian cigarette of choice
In 2023, approximately 240 thousand metric tons of tobacco were produced in Indonesia. In that same year, Indonesia imported tobacco from other major producers to fulfill the tobacco industry's needs. Different than other countries, Indonesian smokers tend to favor the local kretek cigarettes. Kretek is a clove cigarette that consists of tobacco, ground clove buds, clove oil as well as other spices such as cumin, cinnamon, or nutmeg. Saccharin is then added to the kretek cigarette wrapping paper to give it a sweet taste. Machine-made kretek cigarettes are most common in Indonesia, with a share of around 75 percent of the Indonesian tobacco market. Kretek cigarettes are, however, more harmful than regular cigarettes due to a higher percentage of tar and nicotine - the average Kretek cigarette has 56 milligrams of tar and 2.8 milligrams of nicotine. A survey on the daily cigarette consumption in Indonesia found Indonesians smoke on average between six to ten cigarettes a day.Smoking - a habit that is here to stay?
There have been some attempts to restrain smoking in recent years, such as an increase in government funding for medical research on the health impacts of smoking. However, the Indonesian government had always been supportive of the kretek industry and was slow to implement a functioning system of tobacco control and consumer protection as the tobacco industry is one of Indonesia's largest economic contributors. Cigarette costs and tax rates in Indonesia are known to be low in comparison to other countries. At the beginning of January 2022, Indonesia finally increased its tobacco excise across all cigarette varieties by an average of 12 percent. However, this step was taken to generate additional revenues to help the nation stay afloat during the COVID-19 crisis and has not been effective in reducing Indonesia's tobacco consumption.While tax revenue and price increases are important steps to ease the country's pressure, the Indonesian government also needs to focus on reducing its smoking prevalence. The fact that cheap cigarettes are a major contributor to Indonesia's tobacco epidemic must also be emphasized. In 2023, a pack of cigarettes in Indonesia was around 21,000 Indonesian rupiahs for kretek cigarettes and 28,000 rupiahs for white cigarettes. There is still a long way to go before Indonesia's tobacco consumption is drastically reduced. Decreasing the price gap between the most and lowest-priced cigarette products and enacting the highest legal tax rates seem to be the preferred recommendations by Indonesian health organizations.
