Poverty in Indonesia Drops by 1.84 Million People Since 2023
Jakarta. The percentage of Indonesia’s population living in poverty decreased to 8.57 percent in September 2024, a decline of 0.46 percentage points compared to March 2024 and a 0.79 percentage point decrease from the same month in 2023.
"The poverty rate of 8.57 percent in September 2024 marks the lowest level ever recorded in Indonesia since poverty data was first released by BPS in 1960," said Amalia Adininggar Widyasanti in Jakarta on Wednesday. This is also the first time the poverty rate has fallen below 9 percent.
According to the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) data released on Wednesday, the total number of poor people in the country reached 24.06 million in September 2024, marking a reduction of 1.16 million people from March 2024 and a decrease of 1.84 million from March 2023.
Several factors contributed to the decline in poverty during the period from March 2024 to September 2024, including Indonesia's strong economic growth. The country’s economy grew by 5.35 percent in the third quarter of 2024 compared to the first quarter.
Additionally, household consumption expenditure in the third quarter rose by 2.63 percent, from Rp 1,659.86 trillion to Rp 1,703.46 trillion. Meanwhile, the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the agriculture, forestry, and fisheries sectors saw impressive growth of 23.54 percent, from Rp 327.1 trillion in Q1 to Rp 404.1 trillion in Q3.
The poverty line in September 2024 was recorded at Rp 595,242 rupiah, approximately $ 36.5, per capita per month, with rice, cigarettes, housing, and fuel contributing the most to the poverty line.
The highest percentage of poor people was found in the Maluku and Papua Islands, where 18.62 percent of the population lived in poverty. On the other hand, Kalimantan had the lowest poverty rate at 5.3 percent. However, in terms of the total number of poor people, the majority still reside on Java Island, with 12.62 million people in poverty, while Kalimantan had the smallest number of poor people at 0.91 million.
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