Indonesia adds 1.44 million employed workers in year to August 2026
Unemployment fell to 4.75 per cent, while labour force participation declined to 70.33 per cent, according to Statistics Indonesia.
Indonesia had 147.99 million people in employment in August 2026, an increase of 1.44 million from August 2025, according to Statistics Indonesia (BPS). The number of unemployed people fell by 77,000 over the same period.
At a Jakarta press conference, BPS Deputy for Balance Sheets and Statistical Analysis M. Edy Mahmud said the labour force had expanded by 1.366 million to reach 155.37 million people.
BPS counted 7.38 million people as unemployed in August 2026. The unemployment rate was 4.75 per cent, a decline of 0.09 percentage points from August 2025.
Labour force participation, however, decreased by 0.26 percentage points to 70.33 per cent, compared with 70.59 per cent a year earlier. Participation stood at 84.16 per cent for men and 56.37 per cent for women. Mahmud said both rates were lower than in August 2025.
Agriculture accounted for the largest proportion of employment at 28.20 per cent. Wholesale and retail trade followed with 17.86 per cent, while manufacturing employed 13.75 per cent of workers.
