The country raised the minimum age limit for purchasing cigarettes to 21 from 18 as part of a series of changes to health regulations intended to curb the deadly habit in a country with one of the world’s highest smoking rates.
A country of 270 million people, Indonesia is one of the world’s top producers of tobacco and there are about 70 million adult smokers there, the World Health Organisation said in a 2021 survey.
In a government regulation signed by President Joko Widodo last week, Indonesia raised the minimum age for people wanting to buy cigarettes to 21 and banned the sale of a single cigarette, a cheap alternative common in local street stores.
The regulation is intended to “lower prevalence of smokers and prevent early-age smokers,” says the regulation.
The regulation took effect immediately.
Indonesia’s health ministry said in a 2023 survey that 7.4% of smokers out of 70 million smokers in the country are between the ages of 10 and 18, with 15-19 being the age group with the most amount of smokers. — Reuters
