Cigarettes Added to List of Essential Household Goods

The 2014 National Economic Survey places cigarettes as a major item in Indonesian household expenditure. Badan Pusat Statistik (BPS, Statistics Indonesia) reports that the highest proportion of average per capita monthly household expenditure on food is allocated to ready-to-eat meals, reaching 12.56 percent. This is followed by spending on rice and other grains at 6.8 percent. Tobacco and betel are third, accounting for 6 percent.

Spending on ready-to-eat meals has steadily increased since 2004. This contrasts with a downward trend observed for other household food items such as rice and other grains, oils and fats, eggs, and various spices. While the trend for cigarette spending is also upward, the increase is less significant in percentage terms.

According to BPS data, cigarettes are a food commodity with a significant impact on the poverty line, both in urban and rural areas. Among food items, expenditure on cigarettes ranks second after rice.