SMOKING, SMOKERS AND ANTI-SMOKING EFFORTS IN INDONESIA

SMOKING IN INDONESIA

Indonesia is the second-largest cigarette market in Asia after China thanks largely to the popularity of kreteks — the traditional clove-flavored cigarettes that dominate domestic consumption. Cigarette advertising is everywhere: on billboards, on television screens, and banners hung across streets. [Source: Jon Emont, New York Times, April 30, 2016]

Tobacco use: total: 39 percent; male: 74.9 percent; female: 3.1 percent (2025 estimate, CIA World Factbook]. In 2001, 62 percent of adult men smoked, up from 53 percent in 1995. At that time about 90 percent of them smoked clove cigarettes and two thirds began smoking before they were 19. A 2012 national survey found that 67 percent of men over age 15 smoke—the highest rate in the world—while 35 percent of the overall population uses tobacco, second only to Russia.

According to expat.or.id: There are many public spaces where you will inevitably have to breathe in cigarette smoke. There is a general lack of understanding as to the detrimental effects on the health of cigarette smoking, and little consciousness of the dangers of inhaling secondhand smoke. A law that banned smoking in transportation terminals, malls, offices, hospitals, schools, universities, places of worship, buses, trains and playgrounds has been in effect in Jakarta since 2006, but it is not entirely enforced. Most office buildings and public areas of malls are complying, however, there will still be a smoking section in most restaurants. [Source: expat.or.id ]

Smokers in Indonesia

Smoking area in Sidoarjo Station in East Java in 2016

Indonesia has the world's highest rate of male smokers at 67 percent and the second-highest rate overall. As of 2025, the Indonesian government had yet to sign a World Health Organization treaty on tobacco control. It is the only country in Southeast Asia and the Asia-Pacific region that is not a party to this international legally binding treaty. The health impact is severe: tobacco-related diseases kill at least 200,000 people each year in a nation of about 240 million. [Source: Associated Press, June 27, 2014; Google AI]

Most Indonesian smokers favor kreteks, the strong clove-flavored cigarettes that combine tobacco and cloves. However, “white” cigarettes, including brands like Marlboro from Philip Morris International, have grown increasingly popular. With prices as low as about $1 per pack, cigarettes remain highly affordable, making it easy even for children to start smoking. [Source: Associated Press, June 25, 2014]

In the 1990s, Indonesia ranked fifth in the world in tobacco consumption. Smoking jumped 44 percent between 1990 and 1997. The number of cigarettes smoked a year increased from 500 in 1972 to 950 in 1982 to 1,180 in 1992, when Indonesia ranked 59th in the world in cigarette consumption. Around 213 billion cigarettes were consumed in 1996. After rising steadily for a couple decades, Indonesia’s smoking rate leveled off in the 2010s, according to the Indonesian Family Life Survey.

Eight-Year-Old Indonesian Smoker Quits

In April 2012, Indonesia’s Child Protection Commission was announced that an Indonesian boy who began smoking at age four — and smoked more than a pack a day — had successfully quit. After a month in treatment, eight-year-old Ilham had gained about two kilograms and showed clear signs of improvement, said commission chairman Arist Merdeka Sirait. [Source: AFP, April 19, 2012]

Sirait cautioned, however, that the boy could relapse if he returned to an unsupportive home environment. Ilham entered treatment in mid-March after his parents reported severe tantrums—he would become violent, hitting them and damaging property whenever he was denied cigarettes.

Following the treatment, Ilham’s behavior improved significantly. He became calmer and was able to spend time with his parents doing simple activities like walking and reading together. His father, who also quit smoking around the same time, planned to enroll him in an Islamic boarding school where his daily routine could be closely supervised.

The rehabilitation program in Jakarta included spiritual guidance, social interaction with other children, and relaxation techniques. According to Sirait, the commission had documented around 20 cases of child smokers across Indonesia.

One widely publicized case in 2010 involved a two-year-old boy from Sumatra who reportedly smoked up to 40 cigarettes a day before quitting with similar treatment. His story drew global attention after a video of him smoking circulated online.

Indonesia has some the highest rates of youth smoking in the world. A World Health Organization report found that more than a third of high school and university students smoke. Street vendors routinely sell cigarettes outside schools and cigarettes are cheap enough that kids can buy them with pocket money.

Anti-Smoking Efforts in Indonesia

In the late 2000s, fewer than 10 Indonesian cities had laws restricting smoking in public places, according to the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, which helps administer Bloomberg Initiative grant programs in the country. By the mid 2010s, progress hadhas been significant: more than 170 cities have adopted regulations that heavily limit smoking in public spaces. This expansion reflects a growing push at the local level to address tobacco use.[Source: Jon Emont, New York Times, April 30, 2016]

That push has been driven by an increasingly influential coalition of mayors, public health officials, and anti-smoking groups, which has achieved several notable victories. In Jakarta, for example, the large cigarette billboards that once lined major highways were removed in 2015 as part of broader efforts by city leaders nationwide to ban outdoor tobacco advertising.

Many of the advocacy efforts behind these local regulations have been supported financially by the Bloomberg Initiative to Reduce Tobacco Use, a $600 million fund established by former New York mayor Michael R. Bloomberg. Since 2007, the initiative has contributed more than $10 million to Indonesia and identified the country as one of its five priority nations. Its strategy has focused on promoting local and regional tobacco control policies in Indonesia’s highly decentralized political system.

Public health advocates describe the struggle as intense and ongoing. Yayi Prabandari, a public health professor at Gadjah Mada University, likened the conflict between tobacco companies and control advocates to a war. At the same time, anti-smoking campaigns have provoked resistance from smokers’ rights groups, which argue that such measures stigmatize smokers and threaten Indonesia’s tobacco heritage. Some of these groups, including Komunitas Kretek, receive funding from the tobacco industry.

Efforts to strengthen tobacco control have also been complicated by internal government challenges. Officials say Indonesia’s fragmented ministries often pursue conflicting policies, making it difficult to implement sweeping national reforms. As a result, many advocates have shifted their focus to local governments, where targeted funding and support have proven more effective in countering the influence of large tobacco companies.

There have been some national-level successes. In 2014, Indonesia introduced a law requiring cigarette manufacturers to include warning labels on packaging, a move supported in part by the Bloomberg Initiative. Health officials say such measures have helped raise awareness and strengthen the ability of local governments to protect public health.

Indonesians Mostly Ignore Religious Edicts Against Smoking

The tobacco debate in Indonesia has extended into Indonesia’s religious sphere. In 2009, the Council of Ulema, Indonesia's most powerful Islamic scholars issues fatwas against smoking and other things which were widely ignored. Many people in Jakarta, the capital, wish that Islamic scholars would just butt out. Days after the anti-smoking fatwa made national headlines, Jakarta's air is still pungent with the sweet scent of clove cigarettes. Near high schools across the city, whether Muslim madrasas or secular public schools, hawkers were happily selling single cigarettes to crowds of children. The Indonesian government appeared relieved that the fatwa seemed to have little effect on the craving for cigarettes as it relies on tobacco taxes for revenues. [Source: Paul Watson, Los Angeles Times, February 6, 2009]

In 2010, Muhammadiyah, the country’s second-largest Muslim organization, issued a landmark ruling by declaring smoking forbidden due to its harmful health effects. Given Muhammadiyah’s vast network of schools, universities, and hospitals, the decision quickly turned many institutions into smoke-free environments. However, the ruling also sparked controversy after it was revealed that Muhammadiyah had received a $393,000 grant from the Bloomberg Initiative in 2009. Critics questioned whether the funding influenced the decision, though leaders within the organization denied any such connection. [Source: Jon Emont, New York Times, April 30, 2016]

Meanwhile, Nahdlatul Ulama, Indonesia’s largest Muslim organization and a rival to Muhammadiyah, has taken a more permissive stance, generally not prohibiting smoking. Some of its leaders have argued that strict anti-tobacco measures could harm farmers and small-scale sellers who depend on the industry. The organization has also faced scrutiny for receiving funding from a foundation linked to Djarum, one of Indonesia’s tobacco companies, though it denies any link between funding and its position.

Efforts to Control Tobacco in Indonesia

Indonesia has long been slow to enact tobacco regulations. Although health laws mandating graphic warnings were passed in 2009, it took years before a specific decree for implementation was issued. [Source: Associated Press, June 25, 2014]

Tobacco control remains highly controversial in Indonesia, which is the world’s fifth-largest cigarette producer and a major growth market for the industry. Proposed restrictions often spark loud protests from farmers, while industry lobbyists maintain close ties with politicians in a system frequently criticized for corruption.

Unlike in many Western countries, tobacco advertising is still widespread. Massive billboards and glowing LED screens promote brands with slogans like “Marlboro Ice Blast … crush it, unleash it.” At the country’s main international airport, ads for Clas Mild cigarettes proclaim, “Act Now! Talk less do more.” Tobacco commercials continue to air on television, and despite new rules banning event sponsorship, some companies persist in such marketing efforts.

Though Indonesia’s top Islamic body, the Ulema Council, forbids smoking in public, more than one-third of Indonesians smoke cigarettes — many of them like excessively. Around 400,000 people die every year from smoking-related illnesses. The Ulema Council has also debated whether to issue an edict banning smoking in Indonesia but the talks ended in a deadlock. [Source: Robin McDowell, Associated Press, January 26, 2009]

Indonesia Adds Graphic Warnings to Cigarette Packs

In June 2014, Indonesia mandated the use graphic photo warnings on cigarette packs joining more than 40 other nations or territories that have adopted similar regulations as of that time. According to Associated Press; The warnings — gruesome close-up images ranging from rotting teeth and cancerous lungs to open tracheotomy holes and corpses — are an effort to highlight the risks of health problems related to smoking. [Source: Associated Press, June 27, 2014]

Research suggests these images have prompted people to quit, but the World Health Organization estimates nearly 6 million people continue to die globally each year from smoking-related causes. The tobacco industry has fought government efforts to introduce or increase the size of graphic warnings in some countries. Here are a few places where pictorial health warnings have made headlines:

The law requires that 40 percent of pack covered by graphic photos. Many tobacco companies missed deadline to comply with the new law requiring all cigarette packs in stores to carry graphic warning photos. This was seen as setback for anti-smoking efforts in Indonesia. “"This clearly indicates that the cigarette industry has defied Indonesian law," said National Commission for Child Protection chair Arist Merdeka Sirait. "The government has been defeated by the cigarette industry."

Image Sources: Wikimedia Commons

Text Sources:“Encyclopedia of World Cultures Volume 5: East/Southeast Asia:” edited by Paul Hockings, 1993; “Culture and Customs of Indonesia” by Jill Forshee, Greenwood Press, 2006; National Geographic, New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Smithsonian magazine, Encyclopedia.com, Library of Congress, Indonesia Tourism website (indonesia.travel), Indonesia government websites, Live Science, The Conversation, The New Yorker, Time, BBC, CNN, Reuters, Associated Press, AFP, Lonely Planet Guides, Google AI, Wikipedia, The Guardian and various websites, books and other publications.

Last updated April 2026