According to the central statistics agency, there were roughly 23.85 million Indonesians living in poverty as of March this year – representing 8.47% of the country’s total population of 280 million.

BPS categorises people living off Rp609,160 a month, about US$37, as poor.

“The poverty line figure for 2025 is the lowest for the past two decades,” the agency’s senior official, Ateng Hartono, told a press conference.

However, the agency noted the significant gap between big cities and rural areas, with villages still seeing a higher poverty rate.

Jakarta last week struck a trade deal with the US that will see Indonesian goods hit with a 19% tariff – lower than the threatened rate of 32%.

According to Washington, nearly all US goods will be able to enter Indonesia tariff-free.

Indonesia’s coordinating minister of economics Airlangga Hartarto said earlier this week that if Washington had insisted on the 32% tariff, around a million Indonesians could lose their jobs and the poverty rate could increase.