BPS clarifies welfare decile rankings in Indonesia

The Indonesian Central Bureau of Statistics (BPS) has clarified that welfare deciles used in the National Single Social and Economic Data (DTSEN) are not absolute measures of income or wealth. BPS Head Amalia Adininggar Widyasanti explained that deciles represent a family's relative position compared to others based on various socio-economic characteristics.

To determine these rankings, BPS utilizes the Proxy Means Test (PMT) method. This approach considers multiple variables simultaneously, including housing conditions, access to drinking water, fuel and energy sources, asset ownership, electricity consumption, family composition, education, employment, health, and disability status. Consequently, a single factor, such as vehicle ownership or a specific job, does not automatically dictate a family's decile position.

DTSEN has become the primary national reference for government planning and program evaluation under Presidential Instruction Number 4 of 2025. The system integrates several large databases, including DTKS, P3KE, and Regsosek, synchronized with population data. As of July 10, 2026, DTSEN Version 3 includes approximately 290.13 million individual records and 95.98 million family records. The government noted that decile positions are dynamic and subject to change as data is updated.