Cigarette sales in Indonesia fell by 5.5 percent during the first half of this year, according to an Antara News Agency story quoting the Customs and Excise Directorate General’s acting technical director Nugroho Wahyu Widodo.
As at the end of June, 272 billion cigarettes had been sold during 2018, down from the 288 billion sold during the six months to the end of June 2017.
Nugraha said these figures had come from the national health survey, but that AC Nielsen’s research had shown similar results.
Speaking in Nusa Dua on Friday, he said that the decline in sales was proof that the number of smokers had ‘also tumbled’.
Nugroho said also that while cigarette duty contributed greatly to the state’s revenue, the government was committed to controlling the number of smokers.