115 Million Indonesians Enter the Middle Class

The World Bank, in its report titled "Aspiring Indonesia – Expanding the Middle Class," states that nearly half of Indonesia's population is moving towards the middle class. This amounts to 114.7 million people.

This figure represents 44% of Indonesia's total population of 261 million in 2016, the largest of any group.

"The segment of society moving towards the middle class is crucial for unlocking Indonesia's development potential and propelling it to high-income status," according to the World Bank's report release.

The following is the population grouping by expenditure, according to the World Bank:

* Upper Class: expenditure exceeding Rp 6,000,000 per person per month
* Middle Class: expenditure of Rp 1,200,000 - Rp 6,000,000 per person per month
* Aspiring Middle Class: expenditure of Rp 532,000 - Rp 1,200,000 per person per month
* Vulnerable: expenditure of Rp 354,000 - Rp 532,000 per person per month
* Poor: expenditure below the national poverty line or less than Rp 354,000 per person per month

According to the report, 28 million (10.7%) of Indonesia's population falls into the poor category. 61.6 million (23.6%) are in the vulnerable category. There are also 53.6 million (20.5%) in the middle class and 3.1 million (1.2%) in the upper class.

Over the past 20 years (until 2014), the majority of poor and near-poor individuals have escaped poverty and aspired to join the middle class. This number nears 115 million.

The challenge for Indonesia is to make growth more inclusive by providing economic opportunities and fostering the growth of the middle class.

Here are ways to expand Indonesia's middle class, according to the World Bank:

* Improve the quality of education.
* Achieve universal health coverage to protect citizens from health shocks.
* Improve tax policies and administration to enable the government to collect more from the middle class.
* Strengthen local service delivery to improve the quality of education, health, water, and sanitation services provided to the community.