Cultural Development Across Indonesian Provinces Increased in 2022

Indonesia's Cultural Development Index (IPK) across all provinces increased in 2022, coinciding with the end of the Covid-19 pandemic. This is recorded in a collaborative research report by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology (Kemendikbudristek) and the Katadata Insight Center (KIC), titled *Culture in Comparison: A Comparative Analysis of the IPK and Six Related Indices*.

Kemendikbudristek, along with the Central Bureau of Statistics (BPS) and the National Development Planning Agency (Bappenas), compiled the IPK based on the framework of *Culture Development Indicators* (CDIs) developed by UNESCO.

The IPK framework consists of 31 indicators grouped into 7 globally adopted dimensions: Cultural Economy, Education, Socio-Cultural Resilience, Cultural Expression, Literacy Culture, Cultural Heritage, and Gender.

This research is based on descriptive research, compiling secondary data related to the IPK and comparing it with similar indices or those related to cultural development, such as the Poverty Index, Human Development Index (HDI), Interfaith Harmony Index (IKUB), Indonesian Democracy Index (IDI), Community Literacy Development Index (IPLM), and Gender Empowerment Index (IDG).

The results of the analysis are then formulated into an index score on a scale of 0-100 points. A score of 0 indicates very low cultural development, while 100 indicates very good development.

Using this method, in 2022, the Special Region of Yogyakarta and Bali achieved an IPK score in the range of 66 points, categorized as "good".

The other 32 provinces had an IPK of "sufficient," with scores ranging from 40 to 60 points.

Although the majority are still at the "sufficient" level, the IPK scores in all Indonesian provinces in 2022 increased compared to 2021, as shown in the graph.

Indonesian provinces in 2022 generally had good IPK scores in the Education dimension, assessed based on life expectancy in school, educational institutions with regional/arts and culture teachers, participation of the poor and people with disabilities in education, and so on.

The IPK scores at the provincial level are also generally good in the Socio-Cultural Resilience dimension, measured based on interfaith harmony, tolerance, equality, and so on.

However, in the Cultural Economy and Cultural Expression dimensions, scores at the provincial level are generally still low.

“Besides the Cultural Economy dimension, the Cultural Expression dimension also has a poor report card at the provincial level. The freedom of the community in the cultural sphere is still considered low, and has even decreased for two consecutive years during the Covid-19 pandemic, resulting in limited freedom for the community in cultural expression activities,” stated the Kemendikbudristek team in their report.

“Although the achievement in this dimension increased in 2022, it has not been able to match the achievement in 2018 as its baseline. This can be a point of evaluation for the government so that the performance of cultural development, especially cultural expression, can be improved again,” they continued.