Jakarta – The discrepancy in poverty data between the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) and the World Bank has sparked public concern. However, BPS insists the discrepancy is solely due to different methodologies, particularly the poverty line standards used.
The World Bank recently released data indicating that the number of poor people in Indonesia has reached 194.6 million. This figure has increased significantly since the institution changed its global poverty line from the 2017 Purchasing Power Parities (PPP) to the 2021 PPP.
Meanwhile, BPS continues to use the 2017 PPP as its official calculation standard. BPS Deputy for Social Statistics, Ateng Hartono, explained that this benchmark was chosen to maintain consistency in national development evaluations.
“We’re adjusting the method, and we’re still using the PPP model, as it’s related to the 2025–2029 RPJMN, so we can evaluate it continuously,” Ateng said.
BPS and the World Bank actually use the same data source, the National Socioeconomic Survey (Susenas). However, there are striking differences in the poverty line used as a reference.
The World Bank set the extreme poverty threshold at US$3 per capita per day based on the 2021 PPP, while BPS still uses the US$2.15 per capita per day limit based on the 2017 PPP. Ateng stated that there is a difference in these references.
“In Indonesia and most countries, we calculate poverty based on national standards. However, the World Bank calculates poverty based on global comparisons,” he added.
The World Bank officially changed its PPP benchmark in June 2025, as outlined in the June 2025 Update to the Poverty and Inequality Platform (PIP). This change refers to the 2021 PPP data published by the International Comparison Program in May 2024.
BPS’s decision to maintain the national method reflects a commitment to consistent medium-term development planning that is appropriate to the domestic context. This approach is crucial to ensuring policies are relevant and measurable to the real conditions of Indonesian society.**
