77 Years of Indonesian Independence, Poverty Rates Remain High in Papua

Indonesia will celebrate its 77th anniversary on August 17, 2022. Unfortunately, Indonesian independence has not been evenly felt by all Indonesian citizens.

Many people still live below the poverty line, especially our brothers and sisters in Papua and East Nusa Tenggara. Poverty rates in the three provinces of West Papua, Papua, and East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) are the highest compared to other provinces. This is reflected in the darkest color of these three provinces on the map.

Based on data from the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) [link to Indonesian poverty rate in Papua], the poverty rate in Papua Province reached 26.56% of the total population in March 2022. This means that 1 in 4 people in Indonesia's easternmost province lives below the poverty line.

According to BPS data [link to percentage of poor rural Papuan population], the percentage of poor people in rural Papua was even higher at 35.39%. This means that 1 in 3 people in rural Papua lives in poverty. For information, many Papuan people still live in remote or isolated mountainous areas.

The planned expansion of regions in Papua is expected to help improve the welfare of the local community. A shorter bureaucracy is expected to be a shortcut for the people of Tanah Cendrawasih to experience the same Indonesian independence felt by the people in other provinces.

The poverty rate in West Papua Province is 21.33%, and the poverty rate in NTT is 20.05%. Thus, 1 in 5 people in these two provinces are classified as poor.

Meanwhile, the Bangka Belitung, East Kalimantan, Bali, and Jakarta regions appear brightest on the map. This indicates that these four provinces have the lowest poverty rates nationally, below 5% in March 2022.