Indonesia's Ceramic Consumption is Only 2.5 Meters per Capita, Minister of Industry: Behind ASEAN Countries

JAKARTA - Ceramic consumption in Indonesia is said to be still low compared to Southeast Asian countries (ASEAN). Based on data from the Ministry of Industry (Kemenperin), domestic ceramic consumption has only touched the figure of 2.5 square meters per capita.

This was revealed by the Minister of Industry (Menperin) Agus Gumiwang Kartasasmita in his remarks at the inauguration of the Board of Directors of the Indonesian Ceramic Industry Association (Asaki) for the 2026-2029 period at the Ministry of Industry's office, Jakarta, Monday, February 3.

"Per capita consumption of ceramics in Indonesia is still in the range of 2.5 square meters per capita. This is below, once again below the average of ASEAN countries which have reached an average of 3-3.5 square meters per capita per capita," said Agus.

Agus also said that the consumption of ceramics in the country was far behind China which had reached 4 square meters per capita.

"And we are far behind major producing countries such as China and Vietnam which have reached ceramic consumption per capita of 4 square meters," he said.

According to Agus, the level of domestic ceramic consumption is the same as the ratio of vehicle ownership, which is also still low at this time.

"This is also the same as the car ownership ratio which is still very low, our car ownership ratio is still 99 cars per 1,000 people, while other countries are much higher," he said.

Therefore, Agus hopes that floors that have been using soil will immediately switch to ceramics. This is believed to encourage domestic ceramic consumption.

"As an input, our efforts to increase the per capita consumption ratio of ceramics will definitely have an impact, a very positive multiplier effect. This means that if we can replace tiles with ceramics, tiles that have been soil, tiles from other materials, we can change them into ceramics, of course, we can get a multiplier effect in the context of the environment," said Agus.

The former Minister of Social Affairs assessed that the use of ceramics is also expected to create a clean environment that can ultimately increase productivity.

"Just changing from the floor with soil to ceramic tiles, of course, humans can be healthier, they will work more productively and healthy. They will also be able to reduce spending on health needs because they rarely go to the doctor, rarely have to buy medicines, rarely get sick," explained Agus.

"We can imagine just changing from a soil-based or other-based tile to ceramics, the multiplier effect is not only economic growth, but for everyone it is very, very high," he added.