Indonesia's IPK and IPM Scores Rise in Tandem After the COVID-19 Pandemic

Indonesia's Cultural Development Index (IPK), released by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology (Kemendikbudristek), has shown resilience after declining during the COVID-19 pandemic. This index measures the achievements of cultural development in Indonesia.

The index measurement, conducted jointly with the Katadata Insight Center (KIC), shows that the national IPK score reached 55.13 points in 2022.

A score of 0 indicates very low cultural development or progress, while 100 indicates excellent progress.

“2022 marked a rebound in the national IPK score after two consecutive years of decline due to the COVID-19 pandemic,” wrote the research team in their report, *Culture in Comparison: A Comparative Analysis of the IPK and Six Related Indices*, released on Monday, April 22, 2024.

The IPK score during the pandemic in 2021 was 51.9 points—the lowest in the last five years. At the beginning of the pandemic, in 2020, it was 54.65 points.

Before the pandemic, in 2019, Indonesia's IPK reached its highest record at 55.91 points. However, all scores from the last five years remain in the 'sufficient' level, ranging from 40-60 points.

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.

The IPK is intrinsically linked to the Human Development Index (HDI). This is because the indicators forming the IPK use the HDI as a reference.

This aligns with Isna Zuriatina's 2018 research titled *The Influence of Cultural Development on Human Development in Indonesia*. This study found that every 1% increase in IPK increases the HDI by 0.437%.

The HDI is used to evaluate the quality of human life nationally. This index is released by the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) and is based on three main dimensions: Long and Healthy Life, Knowledge, and Decent Living Standards.

These dimensions are then broken down into several indicators, including life expectancy at birth (LEB), expected years of schooling (EYS), mean years of schooling (MYS), and adjusted per capita real annual expenditure.

Unlike the fluctuating IPK, national HDI growth has shown an upward trend in the last five years.

The BPS reported that Indonesia's HDI was at 72.91 points in 2022. This score increased from 72.29 in 2021 and 71.94 in 2020 during the pandemic.

The HDI assessment standards are: very high (80 points or more); high (70-80 points); medium (60-70 points); and low (less than 60).

“The improvement in Indonesia's HDI continues to improve along with the successful handling of the COVID-19 pandemic and the recovery of Indonesia's economic performance,” wrote the BPS in its report, released on Monday, April 22, 2024.