Number of Foreign Workers in Indonesia Compared to Several Other Countries in 2018

The number of foreign workers (TKA) in Indonesia, based on Work Permit (IMTA) data from the Ministry of Manpower at the end of 2018, reached 95,335 workers. This figure represents only 0.04% of the total population of 268,829 million. Indonesia's total number of foreign workers is lower than that of several other countries, both in terms of number and percentage of the population, as shown in the graph below.

For comparison, the number of foreign workers in Malaysia reached 3.2 million, or approximately 10.04% of the total population. In Singapore, the number reached 1.13 million, or 19.36% of the total population. Even in the United Arab Emirates, the number of foreign workers reached 8.4 million, or 87% of the total population.

The issue of foreign workers has always been a political commodity in Indonesia, particularly the increasing number of foreign workers from China, which reached 32,000. For information, the large number of foreign workers from China is due to the increase in foreign investment from that country, bringing new technologies to projects undertaken in Indonesia. Therefore, Chinese workers are needed before technology transfer can take place.