Less than 1% of Indonesian Plantation Farmers Are Wealthy in 2024

According to the Institute for Demographic and Poverty Studies (IDEAS), in 2024, only 0.08% of plantation farmers in Indonesia belonged to the rich economic class.

The majority of plantation farmers were categorized as aspiring middle class, accounting for 59.13%. Furthermore, 21.76% were vulnerable to poverty, 13.15% were middle class, and 5.88% were poor.

IDEAS obtained these figures from an analysis of the results of the National Socio-Economic Survey (Susenas) conducted by Statistics Indonesia (BPS) in 2024.

Beyond the plantation sector, IDEAS found a significant number of poor and vulnerable-to-poverty residents in the horticulture, as well as rice and secondary crops agricultural sectors.

In 2024, the proportion of horticulture farmers vulnerable to poverty reached 21.53%, and those who were poor accounted for 7.29%.

Meanwhile, the proportion of rice and secondary crop farmers vulnerable to poverty was 25.10%, and those who were poor accounted for 9.26%.

According to IDEAS, the high proportion of poor and vulnerable-to-poverty residents in these three sectors indicates a correlation between the agricultural sector and low welfare levels.

"Low productivity, limited access to technology and capital, and unstable prices for agricultural products are factors contributing to this condition," IDEAS stated in its report.