Poverty in Indonesia: Absolute Poverty Up, Relative Poverty Down
Based on the latest data from Indonesia's Statistics Agency (BPS), released on Monday (17/07), Indonesia's absolute poverty rose to 27.77 million people in March 2017 (from 27.76 million in September 2016). However, the country's relative poverty figure fell to 10.64 percent of the population in March 2017 (from 10.70 percent in September 2016). This seeming paradox - rising absolute poverty but falling relative poverty - is caused by Indonesia's growing population. The Indonesian population now numbers about 261 million people.