Indonesia exported cigarettes worth USD 931.6 million (EUR 822.4 million) in 2018, up nearly 3 per cent from USD 904.7 million (EUR 798.7 million) in 2017, The Jakarta Post reported.
According to Industry Minister Airlangga Hartanto, the cigarette excise was recorded at IDR 153 trillion (EUR 9.48 billion) last year, up 3.9 per cent from IDR 147 trillion (EUR 9.11 billion) in 2017. "Cigarette excise tax revenue contributed 95.8 per cent of the national excise tax revenue," Airlangga was quoted as saying.
The cigarette industry mostly uses domestic raw materials like tobacco and clove, so that the products could compete on the global market, the report said. Speaking about health issues related to tobacco products, he said: “We will take employment and people's health into consideration."