BPS: The Poor Population In Indonesia Has Increased By 2.76 Million As A Result Of The COVID-19 Pandemic

Illustration. (Angga Nugraha / VOI)

JAKARTA - The Central Statistics Agency (BPS) revealed that the percentage of Indonesia's poor population increased by 0.97 percent due to the COVID-19 pandemic or increased by 2.76 million people in September 2020 to 27.55 million people compared to September 2019 which reached 24.79 million people.

"The percentage of poor people increased from 9.22 percent to 10.19 percent, there is an increase of 0.97 percent," said Head of BPS Suhariyanto in a virtual press conference in Jakarta, quoted from Antara, Monday, February 15.

According to him, the rate of increase in the poor due to the COVID-19 pandemic can be suppressed because of the social protection program launched by the government. The result, he continued, was that although there was an increase in the number of poor people, the number was not as predicted by a number of international institutions.

He gave an example that in June 2020 the World Bank had released the number of poor people affected by the pandemic in Indonesia which is estimated to increase in the range of 10.7 percent to 11.6 percent if there is no government intervention.

"The increase in September 2020 was only 0.97 percent. This shows that the various social protection programs designed by the government during the pandemic have been very helpful, especially the lower layers," he said.

Not only for 40 percent of people with the lowest economy but social protection, he continued, was also extended to 60 percent.

As is known, the government disbursed the budget in the National Economic Recovery Program (PEN) in 2020 reaching Rp. 695.2 trillion and realized Rp. 579.78 trillion or 83.4 percent.

Of this amount, the allocation for social protection reached Rp. 230.21 trillion and realized Rp. 220.39 trillion

Meanwhile, BPS calculates the poverty rate twice a year, namely in March and September. In March 2020 the number of poor Indonesians reached 26.42 million people or 9.78 percent.

BPS further noted that the increase in poverty in urban areas was much higher than in rural areas, where in September 2020, urban poverty reached 7.88 percent, an increase of 1.32 percent from September 2019.

Meanwhile, poverty in the village reached 13.20 percent or increased 0.60 percent from the same period last year.

As for the national poverty line, BPS recorded that per September 2020 it reached IDR 458,947 per capita per month. This means that the national poverty line per poor household reaches IDR 2,216,714 per poor household, assuming that on average, poor households have 4.83 household members.

This result is obtained by multiplying the national poverty line by the average number of household members.