Saudi Arabia is considering restricting access to tobacco products and raising the legal smoking age to 21 years, an official has said.

"Work is underway to ban tobacco products from being sold at supermarkets and grocery stores," said Dr Mansour Al Qahtani, secretary general of the Saudi National Committee for Tobacco Control.

As part of the implementation of a related strategy developed by the World Health Organization, the committee is working with the Health Ministry on raising the legal age for access to tobacco products and cafes to 21 years old.

Eventually, we will raise this age to 21 years old, he said.

When tobacco products are legalized in some stores, they will not be as easily accessible as they are today at all grocery stores and supermarkets, Dr Al Qahtani told Saudi TV Al Ekhbariya.

It will help identify customers of tobacco products and create a database about them, he added.

The number of smokers in Saudi Arabia, a country with a population of 35 million, is estimated to be over 5 million.

A WHO Framework Convention for Tobacco Control was ratified by the kingdom in 2005.