TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Central Statistics Agency (BPS) has released its latest data on labor conditions in Indonesia as of February 2025. One of the key highlights of the report is the average monthly wage for Indonesian workers, recorded at Rp3.09 million.
This figure offers a general overview of income for formal workers in Indonesia, while also underscoring the persistent disparity in wage structures, particularly based on gender.
In its report published on May 5, 2025, BPS detailed an imbalance in average wages between male and female workers. Specifically, male workers earn an average of Rp3.37 million, whereas female workers receive only Rp2.61 million. This data reveals a difference of approximately Rp760,000, indicating that gender disparity in income remains an unresolved issue in the Indonesian workforce.
Nevertheless, BPS noted a slight increase in the average worker wage compared to February 2024. However, the increase is relatively small, amounting to only Rp50,000, or about 1.78 percent. This slow growth suggests that improvements in wage levels are progressing very slowly and are still far from ideal, especially when contrasted with the rising cost of living and ongoing inflation.
A significant difference in average wages is also observed across various business sectors. BPS revealed that the mining and excavation sector offers the highest average wage, reaching Rp5.09 million. This is followed by the electricity and gas supply sector, with an average income of Rp5.04 million, and the financial and insurance activities sector, with an average wage of Rp4.88 million.
These three sectors are identified as dominant in providing high compensation to their employees.
Conversely, several other sectors show income figures significantly below the national average. For instance, the other services sector provides an average salary of only Rp1.81 million, making it the lowest-paying sector.
Additionally, the agricultural sector recorded an average salary of Rp2.25 million, and the accommodation and food and beverage sector registered Rp2.42 million. This disparity reflects varying levels of welfare across economic sectors.
Overall, BPS also reported that workers in 10 out of 17 business sectors earn average wages above the national average. These include the mining and excavation, electricity and gas supply, financial and insurance activities, and information and communication sectors.
Furthermore, the real estate, professional and business activities, government administration and social security, transportation and warehousing, health and social work activities, and construction sectors are also among those with above-average wages.
However, seven business sectors, such as education, trade, agriculture, and other service activities, provide wages below the national average.
As reported by Antara on May 5, 2025, BPS data indicates that Indonesia's working-age population reached 216.79 million people in February 2025, an increase of 2.79 million from February 2024. Of this number, the labor force totaled 153.05 million people, marking an increase of 3.67 million over the past year. Out of this labor force, 7.28 million people are currently unemployed or seeking work.
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