Indonesia People - 2023
SOURCE: 2023 CIA WORLD FACTBOOK
Population
279,476,346 (2023 est.)
Nationality
noun: Indonesian(s)
adjective: Indonesian
Ethnic groups
Javanese 40.1%, Sundanese 15.5%, Malay 3.7%, Batak 3.6%, Madurese 3%, Betawi 2.9%, Minangkabau 2.7%, Buginese 2.7%, Bantenese 2%, Banjarese 1.7%, Balinese 1.7%, Acehnese 1.4%, Dayak 1.4%, Sasak 1.3%, Chinese 1.2%, other 15% (2010 est.)
Languages
Bahasa Indonesia (official, modified form of Malay), English, Dutch, local dialects (of which the most widely spoken is Javanese); note - more than 700 languages are used in Indonesia
major-language sample(s):
Fakta Dunia, sumber informasi dasar yang sangat diperlukan. (Indonesian)
The World Factbook, the indispensable source for basic information.
Religions
Muslim 87.2%, Protestant 7%, Roman Catholic 2.9%, Hindu 1.7%, other 0.9% (includes Buddhist and Confucian), unspecified 0.4% (2010 est.)
Demographic profile
Indonesia has the world’s fourth-largest population. It is predominantly Muslim and has the largest Muslim population of any country in the world. The population is projected to increase to as much as 320 million by 2045. A government-supported family planning program. The total fertility rate (TFR) – the average number of births per woman – from 5.6 in the mid-1960s to 2.7 in the mid-1990s. The success of the program was also due to the social acceptance of family planning, which received backing from influential Muslim leaders and organizations.
The fertility decline slowed in the late 1990’s when responsibility for family planning programs shifted to the district level, where the programs were not prioritized. Since 2012 the national government revitalized the national family planning program, and Indonesia’s TFR has slowly decreased to 2.3 in 2020. The government may reach its goal of achieving replacement level fertility – 2.1 children per woman – but the large number of women of childbearing age ensures significant population growth for many years.
Indonesia is a source country for labor migrants, a transit country for asylum seekers, and a destination mainly for highly skilled migrant workers. International labor migration, both legal and illegal, from Indonesia to other parts of Asia (most commonly Malaysia) and the Middle East has taken place for decades because of high unemployment and underemployment, poverty, and low wages domestically. Increasing numbers of migrant workers are drawn to Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the US. The majority of Indonesian labor migration is temporary and consists predominantly of low-skilled workers, mainly women working as domestics.
Indonesia’s strategic location between Asia and Australia and between the Pacific and Indian Oceans – and its relatively easy accessibility via boat – appeal to asylum seekers. It is also an attractive transit location because of its easy entry requirements and the ability to continue on to Australia. Recent asylum seekers have come from Afghanistan, Burma (Rohingyas), Iraq, Somalia, and Sri Lanka. Since 2013, when Australia tightening its immigration policy, thousands of migrants and asylum seekers have been stranded in Indonesia, where they live in precarious conditions and receive only limited support from international organizations. The situation for refugees in Indonesia has also worsened because Australia and the US, which had resettled the majority of refugees in Indonesia, have significantly lowered their intake.
Age structure
0-14 years: 24.22% (male 34,627,270/female 33,066,304)
15-64 years: 68.1% (male 95,267,122/female 95,063,200)
65 years and over: 7.68% (2023 est.) (male 9,892,325/female 11,560,125)
Dependency ratios
total dependency ratio: 47.6
youth dependency ratio: 37.6
elderly dependency ratio: 10
potential support ratio: 10 (2021 est.)
Median age
total: 31.1 years
male: 30.5 years
female: 31.8 years (2020 est.)
Population growth rate
0.76% (2023 est.)
Birth rate
15.05 births/1,000 population (2023 est.)
Death rate
6.77 deaths/1,000 population (2023 est.)
Net migration rate
-0.71 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2023 est.)
Population distribution
major concentration on the island of Java, which is considered one of the most densely populated places on earth; of the outer islands (those surrounding Java and Bali), Sumatra contains some of the most significant clusters, particularly in the south near the Selat Sunda, and along the northeastern coast near Medan; the cities of Makasar (Sulawesi), Banjarmasin (Kalimantan) are also heavily populated
Urbanization
urban population: 58.6% of total population (2023)
rate of urbanization: 1.99% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)
Major urban areas - population
11.249 million JAKARTA (capital), 3.729 million Bekasi, 3.044 million Surabaya, 3.041 million Depok, 2.674 million Bandung, 2.514 million Tangerang (2023)
Sex ratio
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
0-14 years: 1.05 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.86 male(s)/female
total population: 1 male(s)/female (2023 est.)
Mother's mean age at first birth
22.4 years (2017 est.)
note: data represents median age at first birth among women 25-49
Maternal mortality ratio
173 deaths/100,000 live births (2020 est.)
Infant mortality rate
total: 19.31 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 21.71 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 16.78 deaths/1,000 live births (2023 est.)
Life expectancy at birth
total population: 73.33 years
male: 71.1 years
female: 75.68 years (2023 est.)
Total fertility rate
1.99 children born/woman (2023 est.)
Gross reproduction rate
0.97 (2023 est.)
Contraceptive prevalence rate
55.5% (2018)
Drinking water source
improved: urban: 98.2% of population
rural: 86.8% of population
total: 93.3% of population
unimproved: urban: 1.8% of population
rural: 13.2% of population
total: 6.7% of population (2020 est.)
Current health expenditure
3.4% of GDP (2020)
Physicians density
0.62 physicians/1,000 population (2020)
Hospital bed density
1 beds/1,000 population (2017)
Sanitation facility access
improved: urban: 97.2% of population
rural: 86.5% of population
total: 92.5% of population
unimproved: urban: 2.8% of population
rural: 13.5% of population
total: 7.5% of population (2020 est.)
Major infectious diseases
degree of risk: very high (2023)
food or waterborne diseases: bacterial diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever
vectorborne diseases: dengue fever and malaria
note: on 22 March 2023, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued a Travel Alert for polio in Southeast Asia; Indonesia is currently considered a high risk to travelers for circulating vaccine-derived polioviruses (cVDPV); vaccine-derived poliovirus (VDPV) is a strain of the weakened poliovirus that was initially included in oral polio vaccine (OPV) and that has changed over time and behaves more like the wild or naturally occurring virus; this means it can be spread more easily to people who are unvaccinated against polio and who come in contact with the stool or respiratory secretions, such as from a sneeze, of an “infected” person who received oral polio vaccine; the CDC recommends that before any international travel, anyone unvaccinated, incompletely vaccinated, or with an unknown polio vaccination status should complete the routine polio vaccine series; before travel to any high-risk destination, the CDC recommends that adults who previously completed the full, routine polio vaccine series receive a single, lifetime booster dose of polio vaccine
Obesity - adult prevalence rate
6.9% (2016)
Alcohol consumption per capita
total: 0.08 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
beer: 0.06 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
wine: 0.01 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
spirits: 0.02 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
other alcohols: 0 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
Tobacco use
total: 37.6% (2020 est.)
male: 71.4% (2020 est.)
female: 3.7% (2020 est.)
Children under the age of 5 years underweight
17.7% (2018)
Currently married women (ages 15-49)
70% (2023 est.)
Child marriage
women married by age 15: 2%
women married by age 18: 16.3% (2017 est.)
Education expenditures
3.5% of GDP (2020 est.)
Literacy
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 96%
male: 97.4%
female: 94.6% (2020)
School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education)
total: 14 years
male: 14 years
female: 14 years (2018)
Youth unemployment rate (ages 15-24)
total: 16.1%
male: 16.3%
female: 15.7% (2021 est.)
People - note
Indonesia is the fourth most populous nation in the World after China, India, and the United States; more than half of the Indonesian population - roughly 150 million people or 55% - live on the island of Java (about the size of California) making it the most crowded island on earth
NOTE: The information regarding Indonesia on this page is re-published from the 2023 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency and other sources. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Indonesia 2023 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Indonesia 2023 should be addressed to the CIA or the source cited on each page.
This page was last modified 06 Dec 23, Copyright © 2023 ITA all rights reserved.