Good News From BPS! There Are 26.5 Million Poor People Living As Of September 2021, Most Of Them Are On The Island Of Java

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JAKARTA - The Central Statistics Agency (BPS) reported that the number of poor people in Indonesia fell by 1.04 million people from March 2021 and 1.05 million people in September 2020, to 26.5 million as of September 2021.

So, the percentage of poor people in September 2021 reached 9.71 percent, down 0.43 percentage points against March 2021 and 0.48 percentage points against September 2020.

"This means that the impact of efforts to improve the economy on poverty has started to be felt because it has decreased," said BPS Head Margo Yuwono at the September 2021 Poverty Profile Press Conference in Jakarta, Monday, January 17.

Thus, he sees the trend of decreasing poverty in the country getting better because in general in the period March 2011–September 2021, the poverty rate decreased, both in terms of numbers and percentages, except in September 2013, March 2015, March 2020, and September 2020.

The increase in the number and percentage of poor people in the period September 2013 and March 2015 was triggered by the increase in the price of basic goods as a result of the increase in the price of fuel oil.

Meanwhile, the increase in the number and percentage of poor people in the period March 2020 and September 2020 was caused by the COVID-19 pandemic that hit Indonesia.

However, Margo assessed that the poverty rate in September 2021 was still higher than the level before the pandemic, which reached 24.78 million people in September 2019.

"However, the conclusion is that during this year the reduction in poverty has shown improved performance, but it is still higher than the pre-pandemic figure," he said.

BPS noted that the largest percentage of poor people was in the Maluku and Papua islands, which was 20.43 percent in September 2021, while the lowest was in Kalimantan Island, which was 5.85 percent.

In terms of numbers, most of the poor are still on the island of Java, namely 14.02 million people, while the lowest number of poor people is on the island of Kalimantan, which is 980 thousand people.