High smoking rate recorded in Palembang

PALEMBANG, South Sumatra: Cigarettes sit at second on Palembang's consumption index, higher than rice.

Statistics put cigarette consumption at 13.2 percent, higher than rice at 11.6 percent, and second only to ready-to-eat food at 18.8 percent.

The findings, based on the Palembang chapter of Central Statistics Bureau's survey in 2009, were based on a sample of 768 of the 350,000 families in the city.

The bureau's chief in the city, Tarjono Sonto Prawiro, said Thursday the finding was based on household spending and it put the age of smokers at between 20 and 60 years old. - JP