Poverty Rate Continues to Decline

Jakarta, July 25 – Statistics Indonesia (BPS) has released the latest national poverty figures based on the March 2025 National Socioeconomic Survey (Susenas). The poverty rate stood at 8.47 percent, a decrease from 8.57 percent in September 2024. The number of people living in poverty also declined to 23.85 million.

BPS Deputy Chief Statistician for Social Statistics, Ateng Hartono, highlighted the importance of public understanding regarding the meaning and methodology behind poverty statistics.

“In the Susenas data collection, we collected data at the household level. Around 345,000 households were sampled in March 2025,” Ateng explained.

As of March 2025, the national poverty line was recorded at Rp609,160 per capita per month. This implies that a poor household with an average size of 4.72 members had monthly expenditures below Rp2,875,235. “The poverty line is calculated based on the minimum basic needs, including both food and non-food expenditures,” Ateng added.

It is important to note that the national poverty line is an average figure; each region has its own poverty line, influenced by local prices and consumption patterns.

The rural poverty rate was 11.03 percent, while the urban poverty rate stood at 6.73 percent. The poverty rate declined in rural areas but slightly increased in urban areas.

Compared to September 2024, the Poverty Gap Index (P1) in March 2025 rose in urban areas but decreased in rural areas. This indicates that the average shortfall of poor people’s expenditures from the poverty line widened in urban areas, but narrowed in rural areas. The Poverty Severity Index (P2) also showed a similar trend—an increase in urban areas and a decrease in rural areas—suggesting greater inequality among the poor in cities and improved conditions in rural areas.

Regionally, in March 2025, 18 provinces recorded poverty rates below the national average, while 20 provinces had poverty rates above it. The highest poverty rate was observed in Highland Papua, at 30.03 percent, while Bali recorded the lowest rate, at 3.72 percent.

For the first time, BPS also released extreme poverty figures alongside the national poverty data, in line with Presidential Instruction (Inpres) No. 8 of 2025 on the Optimization of Poverty Alleviation and Elimination of Extreme Poverty. As of March 2025, Indonesia's extreme poverty rate was 0.85 percent, or 2.38 million people, an improvement from March 2024, when it stood at 1.26 percent, or approximately 3.56 million people.

Indonesia’s Inequality Level Declines

BPS also reported a decrease in income inequality. Inequality is measured using the Gini ratio, which ranges from 0 to 1; the closer the value is to 1, the greater the inequality.

In March 2025, the Gini ratio was 0.375, down from 0.381 in September 2024.

Urban areas recorded a Gini ratio of 0.395, down by 0.007 points from September 2024. In rural areas, the Gini ratio stood at 0.299, a decrease of 0.009 points over the same period.

Regionally, 31 provinces had Gini ratios below the national average, while 7 provinces were above it. The highest inequality was recorded in DKI Jakarta at 0.441, while the lowest was observed in Bangka Belitung Islands, at 0.222.