Despite the COVID-19 Pandemic, 77% of Poor Residents Did Not Reduce Cigarette Consumption

As many as 77.1% of respondents who are impoverished household heads did not reduce their cigarette consumption during the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic. Specifically, 63.8% of respondents consumed the same amount of cigarettes as before the pandemic. In fact, 13.3% of respondents said their cigarette consumption increased.

Most respondents maintained their cigarette consumption, even though economic conditions worsened due to the pandemic. It was not uncommon for them to buy cigarettes even though the price was higher. This is as stated by 39% of respondents who continued to smoke during the pandemic.

Furthermore, 44.2% of respondents from this group chose to buy cigarettes at a similar price. 16.1% of respondents in this group chose to switch to cheaper cigarettes.

On the other hand, 21.3% of respondents reduced their cigarette consumption during the coronavirus pandemic. Meanwhile, only 1.6% of respondents quit smoking.

The Institute for Demographic and Poverty Studies (IDEAS) conducted this survey of 1,013 impoverished household heads, with 437 of them being smokers. The survey was conducted in five major agglomeration areas in January-February 2021.