TEMPO.CO, Jakarta— Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, Chairperson of the National Economic Council (DEN), speaks out about the Indonesia Gelap (Dark Indonesia) movement, which criticizes Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto's government. According to him, Indonesia is not currently in a state of darkness.

"If someone says Indonesia is in darkness, it's them who are in darkness, not Indonesia," Luhut said at The Economic Insights 2025 event in Jakarta on Wednesday, February 19, 2025, as quoted by Antara. So, what is the actual condition?

Second Highest Unemployment Rate in ASEAN

According to data from the Central Statistics Agency (BPS), the open unemployment rate (TPT) from the August 2024 National Labor Force Survey (Sakernas) was 4.91 percent. This indicates that out of 100 working-age people, about 5 are unemployed.

Furthermore, according to International Monetary Fund (IMF) data, Indonesia ranks second among seven ASEAN countries in terms of unemployment. As of October 2024, the country's unemployment rate is 5.1 percent, below the Philippines' 5.2 percent rate.

Meanwhile, other ASEAN countries have unemployment rates of 4.9 percent (Brunei Darussalam), 3.5 percent (Malaysia), 2 percent (Vietnam), 1.9 percent (Singapore), and 1 percent (Thailand).

24.06 Million People Still in Poverty

Referring to BPS data, the percentage of poor people in Indonesia in September 2024 was 8.57 percent. The number of poor people reached 24.06 million, a decrease of 1.16 million compared to March 2024.

BPS defines poor people as those with average per capita expenditure below the poverty line. The poverty line (GK) is the minimum food and non-food expenditures that must be met to avoid being classified as poor, which was Rp595,242 per capita per month as of September 2024.

32,064 Workers Affected by Layoffs in January-June 2024

From January to June 2024, the Ministry of Manpower (Kemnaker) recorded 32,064 people affected by layoffs. Most layoffs occurred in DKI Jakarta, accounting for 23.39 percent of the reported laid-off workers.

Confidence in Job Availability Decreased as of January 2025

The Bank Indonesia (BI) Consumer Survey in January 2025 revealed that respondents' perceptions of job availability decreased. The consumer confidence index (CCI) for job availability was 112.6, down 1.3 from 123.9 in December 2024.

The BI consumer survey is a monthly survey. Since 2007, the survey has been conducted on approximately 4,600 households in Jakarta, Bandung, Bogor, Depok, Bekasi, Banten, Semarang, Surabaya, Medan, Makassar, Bandarlampung, Palembang, Padang, Pangkalpinang, Pontianak, Banjarmasin, Samarinda, Denpasar, Mataram, Manado, and Ambon.

Country with the Most Online Gambling Players

DroneEmprit survey results show that Indonesia leads as the country with the highest number of online gambling players in the world, reaching 201,122 individuals. This figure is solely based on survey results and does not represent the actual number.

According to the Financial Transaction Reports and Analysis Center (PPATK), online gambling turnover in Indonesia reached Rp327 trillion in 2023. There were approximately 168 million gambling transactions that occurred domestically.

Muhammad Rafi Azhari contributed to the writing of this article.

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