The Jordanian government has banned smoking and vaping in all indoor public spaces a week after rates of tobacco use in the country were revealed to have become the highest in the world.

The country’s health ministry said on Wednesday that all enclosed public areas would now be “100% smoke-free environments”, building on an existing but widely flouted ban on smoking inside government buildings and ending an exemption for hotels, cafes and restaurants provided they separated smokers from non-smokers.

Public health campaigners cautiously welcomed the announcement as a major step forward in a country where more than 82% of men smoke or consume nicotine in some form, according to government and World Health Organization data published by the Guardian last week.