state of smoking and health in Indonesia

This page was last edited on: March 26, 2024 at 3:26 pm

smoking rate

33.4% (2022)

Tobacco Use Rate

38.5% (2022)

Tobacco Use and Trends

In 2022, an estimated 79.3 million adults aged 15 years and older in Indonesia are tobacco product users. This position Indonesia the 3^rd in the globe and the 2^nd in the WHO South East Asia Region (SEAR) in terms of the number of tobacco product users.
In 2018, tobacco use consists almost entirely of smoked tobacco, where kreteks and factory-made cigarettes are particularly popular smoked tobacco products. Just under 70% of those who report using tobacco smoke kreteks, and 44% report white cigarettes.
In 2021, 1% adults (1.1% female and 0.9% male) aged 15 years and over were current smokeless tobacco users.
The white and kretek cigarettes combined volume was 301 billion sticks or 52.7 pack per capita in 2022, that is 1.5% less than that of 55.5 packs per capita in 2010 (Euromonitor- last accessed in December 2023).

Youth Tobacco Use

In 2019, among youth aged 13 to 15 years, 35.6% of boys and 3.5% of girls used tobacco (totaling 19.2% of all students.
In 2021, 1% of youth (0.7% girls and 1.4% boys) were also current smokeless tobacco users.

Dual Users

In 2018, a subset of tobacco product users engage in dual use. Relatively modest numbers of people roll their own cigarettes (14%) or use electronic cigarettes (2.8%).

Nicotine Alternatives

In 2021, a survey revealed that 3% adults aged 15 years and older identified as current e-cigarette users. Among them 5.8% were male and 0.3% were female. Notably less than 1% (specifically 0.3%) of adults reported being daily e-cigarette users. Interestingly, none of the females surveyed fell into this category, while only 0.6% of males reported using e-cigarettes on a daily

Health and Economic Burden From Tobacco Use

Tobacco was the 2^nd highest risk factor driving the most death and disability combined in 2019. It was estimated that tobacco use accounted for 290,444 deaths or 26% of all deaths in the country.
- Of tobacco deaths, 246 thousand or 85% were attributed to smoking, 53 thousand or 18% were secondhand smoking.
The leading causes of most deaths in Indonesia include Stroke ranking 1^st, Ischemic Heart Disease (IHD) ranking 2^nd , COPD ranking 3^rd , Lung Cancer ranking 9^th, , and, where tobacco was responsible for:
- 70 thousand or 30% of total IHD deaths, 42.5 thousand or 79.5% of all COPD deaths, 65.4 thousand or 22% of all Stroke deaths, and 30 thousand or 79% of all lung cancer deaths in 2019.
In 2019, tobacco use caused an estimated loss of 8.9 millions disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) – 23% of total DALYs where tobacco accounts for loss of 2.1 million DALYs for IHD, 1 million DALYs for COPD, 1.9 million DALYs for Stroke and 726.5 thousand DALYs for tracheal, bronchus, and lung cancer.
The economic costs associated with death, disease, and disability due to tobacco use are substantial. In 2019, the cost of treating tobacco was estimated to be RP 17.9-27.7 trillion (1-0.2% of the country’s GDP).

regulatory environment and Economics

Public Health Commitment

Indonesia has neither ratified WHO FCTC nor WHO Illicit Trade Protocol as of 2023.
In 2012, Indonesia adopted graphical health warnings (GHWs) on combustible cigarettes (CCs).

Diverse Tobacco Market

Heated Tobacco Products HTPs and e-cigarettes with or without nicotine are available in E-cigarettes with or without nicotine content are classified as consumer products, while HTPs are not classified yet but treated as tobacco products.
- Text health warnings are mandatory for HTPs and e-cigarettes with nicotine covering 30% of both inner and outer surface packaging.

Taxation Policy

In 2022, the total tax rate on retail prices of a pack of cigarette was 72.9%.
HTPs in Indonesia are subject to a specific excise tax of IDR 2,886 (US$ 0.19)/gram of tobacco content. Meanwhile, e-cigarettes are subject to specific excise of IDR 532 ($0.034)/ml of e-liquid for open system and IDR6,392 (US$0.41)/ml of e-liquid for the closed system as of 2023.
Indonesia applies differential excise tax policy between Combustible Cigarettes and HTPs, with the excise rate at IDR 17,604.6/pack and its share (52.22%) on the retail price (IDR 33,714.7/pack) of HTPs in 2023 as compared with the excise rate at IDR 23,860/pack and its share (50.13%) on the retail price (IDR 47,600/pack) of CCs.

Smoking and Advertising Bans

Indonesia enforces the least comprehensive advertising bans and some smoking bans on CCs with an unreported compliance level for advertising bans and moderate compliance for smoking bans in 2022. HTPs and e-cigs are treated as tobacco and subject to same smoking and advertising bans as CCs.

Age Restrictions

Tobacco products, e-cigs and HTPs cannot be sold to individuals younger than 18 years of age in Indonesia.

Illicit Trade

Estimated figures indicate that illicit trade has been fluctuating around 6% in Indonesia with 5.7 % in 2005, peaking at 7.1% in 2022, and falling to 6.9% in 2023.

TOBACCO PRODUCTION AND DIVERSIFICATION

In 2022, Indonesia produced approximately 255.6 thousand tons of unmanufactured tobacco. This accounts for about 3.9% of the global production of 5.8 million tons. In comparison to 2010, when Indonesia produced 135.7 thousand tons, there has been a notable increase of 66.2%.
Indonesia utilized an estimated 204.9 thousand hectares of land to harvest tobacco in 2022, which is a reduction of 5.3% compared to 2010 . (FAOSTAT –last accessed on January 2024).

[1] Source: World Health Organization: Non-age-standardized estimates of current tobacco use, tobacco smoking, and cigarette smoking (Tobacco control: Monitor) and The World Bank’s Population Estimates and Projections.

Explanation: This estimate is calculated by applying the WHO’s estimated percentage of tobacco smokers for 2023 to the World Bank’s projected population figures of the same year for 15 years and older. These figures should be used with caution, as they do not account for the 95% credible interval around the estimate.

As research findings become available that are inclusive of additional gender identities, the Foundation will update the information presented.