The Lifetime Migrant Population in Indonesia Continues to Decrease until 2024

According to a report by Statistics Indonesia (BPS), 9.7% of Indonesia's population held the status of lifetime migrants in 2024.

A lifetime migrant is defined as a resident whose current place of residence (at the time of the survey) differs from their province of birth.

"Thus, out of every 10 Indonesian residents, one was born in a different province from their place of residence at the time of data collection," BPS wrote in its report.

The percentage of lifetime migrant residents in Indonesia has continuously decreased over the last five years, reaching its lowest point in 2024.

BPS believes this decline indicates a decrease in inter-provincial population heterogeneity.

"Population growth is no longer tending to be followed by rapid inter-regional distribution," BPS stated.

In 2024, Riau Islands became the province with the largest percentage of lifetime migrants, reaching 42% of its total population.

The migration flow to this region is driven by the availability of job opportunities in the manufacturing and port sectors, as well as the Batam free trade zone.

"This leads many people from outside the province [Riau Islands] to settle permanently to obtain better economic opportunities," BPS said.

Other provinces with a high number of lifetime migrants include East Kalimantan with a proportion of 30.5%, Jakarta 30.3%, North Kalimantan 29.2%, and Riau 26.7%.