Under President Soeharto's leadership, poverty rates fell by 36 percent.

During President Soeharto's reign (1970-1998), Indonesia's poverty rate decreased by 35.8 percent. This is the largest decrease compared to other presidential administrations. Development programs implemented by President Soeharto successfully reduced the poverty rate to 24.2 percent, down from 40.4 percent in 1970.

The second largest decrease in poverty occurred during the presidency of Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY) (2009-2014), at 5.7 percent. Third place is held by President Abdurrahman Wahid (Gusdur) (1999-2001), with a decrease of 5.02 percent. A 100 percent increase in civil servant salaries contributed to this reduction in poverty.

In the first three years of President Joko Widodo's (Jokowi) administration (2014-March 2017), Indonesia's poverty rate decreased by 0.32 percent to 10.64 percent. However, the number of unemployed increased by 40,000 to 27.77 million people.