Language

Official language
Jawanese 52%, Indonesian 29%, Sundanese 19%

T-index
1.1%

T-Index ranks countries according to their potential for online sales.

Other languages
More than 700 living languages are spoken in Indonesia

English
Low proficiency (EF) – 80 of 112 countries/regions in the world- 14/24 position in Asia.

Demography

Capital: Jakarta
Currency: Indonesian rupiah
Population: 276,36 m
Population density: 147/km2

Economy

GDP: 1.19 trillion USD (2020)
GDP per capita: 4,291.8 USD ‎(2020) ‎
Exports: $178 billion (2020)

Statistics

Internet users: 73.7% penetration, 204.7 million
Unemployment rate: 3.8% (2021)
Urbanisation: 55.99% (2020)
Literacy: 96 % (2020)

Conventions

Numbering system
Arabic numerals with comma as decimal separator.

Date format: dd-mm-yyyy
Time: 24h time system
Country code: 0062

Economy

Imports
$140 billion (2019). Refined Petroleum ($7.45B), Crude Petroleum ($3.13B), Telephones ($2.95B), Planes, Helicopters, and/or Spacecraft ($2.69B), and Petroleum Gas ($2.42B), importing mostly from China ($40.8B), Singapore ($14.8B), Japan ($9.24B), Thailand ($7.76B), and United States ($7.59B).

Financial inclusion factors (over 15 years of  age)
• 48% have an account with a financial institution
• 48% have a credit card
• 3.1% have a mobile money account
• 11% make online purchases

Ease of doing business
It is easy to conduct business (rated 69.6 out of 100) ranked 9th out of 25 Asia-Pacific countries ranked 73rd out of 190 countries worldwide (2020, World Bank).

Global Innovation Index
Ranked 14t out of 17 South-Eastern
Asian and Oceanic countries, 87th out of 132 worldwide.

The Global Innovation Index captures the innovation
ecosystem performance of 132 economies and tracks the most recent global innovation trends.

Exports
$178 billion (2020).  Palm Oil ($17.9B), Coal Briquettes ($15.6B), Gold ($6.31B), Petroleum Gas ($5.71B), and Ferroalloys ($4.74B), exporting mostly to China ($32.6B), United States ($19.6B), Japan ($14.4B), Singapore ($12.6B), and India ($11B).

Main local online stores
MercadoLibre, eBay and Amazon, Netshoes, Alibaba, Garbarino.com, Musimundo.com, Frávega, Apple and Cencosud

Economic freedom
‘Moderately free’ (rated 64.4 out of 100) ranked 10th out of 39 Asia-Pacific countries ranked 63rd out of 186 countries worldwide (2019, Heritage Foundation and Wall Street Journal)

Media

Media language Indonesian, English

Information channels
Television is the most popular medium. Major national commercial networks compete with state-owned Televisi Republik Indonesia (TVRI). The radio dial is crowded, with scores of stations in Jakarta alone. In line with global trends, print newspaper circulations are falling. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) describes as “drastic” the restrictions on media access to the troubled province of West Papua. More generally, it says many journalists self-censor because of the threat from laws on blasphemy and online libel. The authorities can resort to blocking online content deemed to break the law or violate social norms, says Freedom House. The NGO reported restricted access to social media and manipulation of online content during elections in 2019.

The press

The Jakarta Post – English-language daily
Kompas – daily
Pos Kota – daily
Indo Pos – daily
Republika – daily
Bisnis Indonesia – daily
Tempo – weekly

Television

Televisi Republik Indonesia – state-owned, operates two networks
Surya Citra Televisi Indonesia (SCTV) – private
Indosiar – private
MNCTV – private
Trans 7 – private
Metro TV – private, news

Radio

Radio Republik Indonesia (RRI) – state-owned, operates national, regional and local stations

News agency

Antara – government-owned news agency, English-language pages
Jakarta Globe – news site, in English
Detikcom – news site

Social statistics

Life expectancy
71.77 yrs (2020)

Average age of the population
29.7 yrs (2020) 

Healthcare expenditure
2.98% of GDP (2017)

Cultural Curiosities
Indonesia’s geography, composed of 17,500 islands, means that there are over 300 different ethnicities, and this has led to the development of many micro-cultures with their own customs and traditions. 

A common trait is a hierarchical structure that most Indonesians follow, with age usually the overriding feature in determining the level of respect. The elderly are thought to have the most wisdom and are thus considered deserving of more authority. 

Graduates
In 2017, about 16% of 25–64 year-olds in Indonesia had attained tertiary education, well below the OECD average of 44% and the G20 average of 38% (Figure 1). Bachelor’s programmes are the most popular form of tertiary education among young adults in Indonesia: 12% of 25–34 year-olds have earned a bachelor’s degree, compared to 4% for short-cycle tertiary qualifications. Not many young adults will graduate from a master’s or doctoral degree in Indonesia: only 1% have attained a master’s degree and below 0.01% a doctorate (OECD averages: 14% and 0.8%).