The government will host a conference this year to discuss the increase as part of its aim to create a ‘tobacco-free generation’ by 2034.

Raising the age would bring Scotland into line with only a few countries in the world, among them Honduras and Kuwait.

The Scottish Health Survey found that smoking rates dropped from 28 per cent in 2003 to 18 per cent in 2017, assisted by the ban on smoking indoors in public places, which came in 13 years ago.

Under the 2034 plans, smoking rates would drop to below five per cent.

While the percentage of 25-34 year-olds who smoke has remained static at 28 per cent since 2014, an average of 13,000 children between 11-15 take up the practice every year.

Pro-smoking group Forest disputed the logic of the move.

Forest director Simon Clark said: “If you’re old enough to vote, drive a car and join the army at 18 you are old enough to make an informed choice to smoke.

“Smoking rates have been falling in all age groups for years. Raising the smoking age is gesture politics that will achieve very little apart from infantilising young adults.

“If teenagers are of a mind to smoke they will smoke regardless of the age they can buy cigarettes, and if smoking becomes more illicit it may also become more attractive, undoing years of anti-smoking education in schools.”

A Scottish government spokesman said: “We have committed to facilitating a conference later this year where the permissible smoking age will be among the issues discussed.

“We will continue to consider what more can be done to reach 16-24 year olds more effectively, either through youth engagement or employment settings.”