Post-Pandemic Decline in the Number of Commuting and Circular Economy Workers in Indonesia

The Central Statistics Agency (BPS) classifies Indonesian workers based on their mobility status. Three statuses are defined: commuter workers, circular workers, and return migrants.

Commuter workers are those who work outside their district/city of residence and regularly commute to and from their residence in less than 24 hours or on the same day.

In 2022, commuter workers comprised 6% of Indonesia's total workforce. This proportion increased from 5.6% in 2021.

However, the proportion of commuter workers has actually decreased in the last three years compared to the pre-Covid-19 pandemic period (2018 and 2019), which were 6.9% respectively.

The next status is circular workers, who regularly travel to their destination and return to their place of residence on a weekly basis, crossing administrative boundaries at the district or city level.

For this status, the proportion reached 1.6% of the total workforce in 2022. This figure decreased from 1.8% in 2021 and significantly decreased from 2.2% in 2018. Circular workers are the only group that has consistently experienced a yearly decline.

"Over larger geographical distances, the general decrease of 0.2 percentage points in circular workers reflects a long-term downward trend in circular workers," stated BPS in its report, *Analysis of Labor Mobility from the 2022 Sakernas Survey*.

Finally, return migrants are those who have moved within the last 5 years or before the census.

The proportion of return migrants in 2022 reached 2.8% of the total workforce. This increased from 2.5% in 2021.

However, compared to the pre-pandemic period, the proportion is considerably lower. In 2018, return migrant workers reached 4%, and 4.5% in 2019.

"In terms of permanent mobility, the increase of 0.3 percentage points in return migrant workers indicates that inter-regional worker movement has revived, although not to the same extent as before the pandemic," said BPS.

BPS noted that the working-age population in 2022 was 209.4 million people. However, the number of people in the workforce reached 143.7 million.

Male workers dominated the workforce, accounting for 61.1%, while female workers accounted for 38.9%.

By sector, the Indonesian workforce is predominantly employed in the informal sector, at 59.3%. Meanwhile, formal workers reached 40.7% in 2022.

(See also: [West Java Became the Province with the Largest Number of Commuter Workers Nationally in 2022](https://databoks.katadata.co.id/datapublish/2023/10/27/jawa-barat-jadi-provinsi-dengan-pekerja-komuter-terbesar-nasional-2022))