Indonesia Sees surge in Informal Employment,BPS Reports
Jakarta – Indonesia’s workforce is increasingly leaning towards informal employment,with the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) revealing a rise to 59.40% in Febuary 2025, up from 57.95% in August 2024. This shift coincides with an increase in the number of unemployed individuals, a trend highlighted in BPS’s latest employment data.
The Open Unemployment Rate (TPT) saw a decrease in February 2025 compared to August 2024. However, urban areas experienced an increase of 0.46 million people in underemployment during the same period. The BPS noted that the rise in informal work is occurring alongside this increase in unemployment figures.
Previously,data released on May 5,2025,indicated that Indonesia’s unemployment had reached 7.28 million people as of February 2025, an increase of 83.45 thousand people from the previous year. Head of BPS, Amalia Adinegar Widyasanti, stated that the growing number of unemployed individuals is attributed to an expanding labor force, which grew by 3.67 million to 153.05 million people. Despite an increase in the employed population to 145.77 million, a rise of 3.59 million from the prior year,not all new entrants were absorbed into the formal job market.
“Not all are absorbed in the work market so there are 7.28 million unemployed people,” Amalia explained at a press conference. “compared to February 2024, as of February 2025 the number of unemployed people increased 83.45 thousand people who rose about 1.11%.”
The overall TPT rate for February 2025 stood at 4.76%, a slight decrease from 4.82% in February 2024. This decline was especially noticeable in the female TPT, while the male TPT saw a marginal increase of 0.02 percentage points. The BPS confirmed that the reduction in TPT was consistent across both urban adn rural areas.(acd/acd)