Jakarta. Indonesia’s manufacturing sector strengthened its expansion in the third quarter of 2026, with the Business Conditions and Prospects Index (IKBM) rising to 52.75 from 52.67 in the previous quarter, Indonesia’s Central Statistics Agency (BPS) reported on Thursday.

BPS Deputy for Balance Sheet and Statistical Analysis M. Edy Mahmud said the index indicated improving business conditions, with most of its components remaining in expansionary territory.

“Production, orders, inventories and employment all recorded expansion, indicating better conditions than in the second quarter of 2026,” Edy said during an online press conference.

The production component posted the strongest reading at 55.04, up from 54.78 in the previous quarter. The orders index also improved to 54.72 from 54.46, while the employment component edged up to 50.14 from 50.02.

Meanwhile, the delivery time component contracted further to 49.08 from 49.52, indicating weaker performance. The inventory component also eased to 51.81 from 52.10, although it remained in expansionary territory.

Separately, BPS reported that Indonesia's employed population reached 147.99 million in August 2026, an increase of 1.44 million from the same month last year.

Edy said the country's working-age population totaled 220.91 million in August, up by 2.74 million from August 2025.

Of that total, 155.37 million people were part of the labor force, an increase of approximately 1.30 million from a year earlier.

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