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Spending discrepancy in Jakarta: Land of the rich, home of the poor
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Just want to have fun: Children hang out in a low-income area in Jakarta on Nov. 28, 2019. The number of people living in poverty in Jakarta reached 494,930 in September 2022, up by 4.61 percent from September 2017, according to Statistics Indonesia. (AFP/Bay Ismoyo)
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ewly released data from Statistics Indonesia (BPS) reveal a deep discrepancy between the haves and the have-nots in Jakarta, given that the townspeople’s spending average sits far above national per-capita expenditure.
The BPS living cost survey 2022, published Dec. 12, unveiled that Jakarta households spent an average Rp 14.89 million (US$959) per month in 2022, far above the national average figure of Rp 8.36 million.
Interim BPS head Amalia Adininggar emphasized that, as a mathematical average, the Rp 14.89 million figure was pushed up by “the very rich” shelling out money for excessive consumption.
As the same figure also accounts for a large number of penny-pinching poor, it is not reflective of the typical lifestyle in the capital.
Amalia, who is also the undersecretary for economy at the National Development Planning Agency (Bappenas), implored the press not to look at this survey results as a problem, given that the data were intended for mapping out inflation components.
However, the figure seems oddly out of sync with other BPS data showing that the city’s average monthly per-capita expenditure amounts to Rp 1.57 million, which would point to spending of just over Rp 6 million a month by a family of four, for example.
Institute for Development of Economics and Finance (Indef) executive director Tauhid Ahmad said it was possible that the two findings were reached using different methodologies. He noted, however, that the difference might also indicate disparity.
