Although the kretek is still cigarettes dominant with 83 per cent of smokers preferring clove cigarettes to white cigarettes (17 per cent), white cigarettes are increasingly popular among female smokers (27 per cent) online cigarettes and in Jakarta (29 per cent).

Mr Susatyo said this data could herald the move from kreteks to white cigarettes. ‘What's going on in Jakarta tends to set trends for the trends for the rest of Indonesia to follow. Therefore, we can confidently predict a shift from kreteks to white cigarettes over the coming years. It is fair to say that this may take some time though, as the majority of consumers dute free cigarettes simply do not like the taste of white and menthol cigarettes.’

The figures demonstrated that cheap cigarettes discount all smokers are aware of the dangers, with 100 per cent stating that they know about Government warnings. However, it seems that they just find it difficult to give up the habit. Indeed, around two thirds of smokers agree with the statement that ‘I am addicted to smoking’. Given these attitudes, it is not surprising that the majority of smokers say that they would like to give buy cigarettes up, and in most cases have already tried unsuccessfully.