Indonesian men are world’s top smokers as two-thirds light up

JAKARTA, Indonesia – Indonesian men rank as the world’s top smokers, with two out of three of them lighting up in a country where cigarettes cost pennies and tobacco advertising is everywhere.

A survey released Tuesday found that 67 per cent of all males over 15 years old smoke. The sprawling archipelago ranked second only to Russia overall with a rate of 35 per cent.

More than 8,000 people participated in last year’s study which found a high rate of people subjected to second-hand smoke at work, home and in public places.

Indonesia has long been criticized for its lack of tobacco controls.

It is one of a remaining handful of countries that have failed to sign the World Health Organization’s tobacco treaty.

Smoking-related illnesses kill at least 200,000 people annually in Indonesia.

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