How many civil servants are there?

In the first 2019 presidential debate, presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto, with candidate number 02, pledged to increase the salaries of civil servants if elected president for the 2019-2024 period. He argued that higher salaries for officials would make them less susceptible to bribery and corruption. This promise was not without reason, as millions of civil servants (PNS) could significantly influence the election outcome. Previously, President Joko Widodo had already increased civil servant salaries starting in early 2019.

In 2017, the number of civil servants totaled 4.28 million. According to data from the National Civil Service Agency (BKN) published by BPS, this comprised 2.139 million male civil servants (49.95%) and 2.144 million female civil servants (50.05%).

Meanwhile, by employment type, there were 934,000 central government civil servants, 569,000 provincial civil servants, and 2.78 million regency/district civil servants, as shown in the graph below. Regency/district civil servants constituted the largest group, reaching 65% of the total.

(Read Databoks: 238,000 Positions Contested in the 2018 CPNS Recruitment)