A two-year-old boy who throws a fit when refused a cigarette has provoked fresh horror over the rise in Indonesia' nicotine-addicted youth.

Ardi Rizal smoked his first cigarette when he was 18 months old.

Now the boy's father admits he is addicted.

"He cries and throws tantrums when we don't let him smoke," the father told a Sriwijaya Post reporter who visited his home at a fishing village in Indonesia's South Sumatra province.

"I'm not worried about his health &— he looks healthy."

There has been an increase in the number of smokers aged between four and nine in Indonesia over recent years.

Authorities blame aggressive advertising and parents who are smokers.

But a bill banning cigarette advertising and sponsorship has been stalled due to opposition from the tobacco industry, the Daily Mail reports.

"If cigarette advertising is not banned, there will be more kids whose lives are threatened because of smoking," a spokesman from Indonesia's Industry Ministry said.

He said the government had lowered cigarette produce, increased cigarette taxes and limited public smoking areas.