The poverty line in March 2024 was IDR582,932 per capita per month. This number increased by 5.9% compared to March 2023 with IDR550,458 per capita.
Acting Secretary of the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) Imam Machdi explained that the increase in the poverty line was due to the drastic increase in food prices. A number of basic commodities experienced price increases during March 2023-March 2024, including rice soaring by 20.07%, chicken eggs by 11.56%, and red chilies by 45.94%.
“The increase in the price of basic commodities certainly affects the level of consumption and public spending which is reflected in the poverty line figure,” he said in an online BPS Release press conference, Monday (1/7). On average, the poverty line per household in March 2024 reached IDR 2,786,415 per month or increased by 7.47% compared to March 2023 which was IDR 2,592,657 per month.
The poverty line per household is a picture of the average minimum rupiah value that must be spent by a household to meet its needs so as not to be categorized as poor. In addition, based on its constituent components, the role of food commodities in the poverty line is much greater than non-food commodities.
In March 2024, food commodities contributed 74.44% to the poverty line. While non-food commodities contributed 25.56%.
In March 2024, the food commodities that contributed the most to the poverty line, both in urban and rural areas, were generally almost the same. Rice still contributed the most, namely 21.84% in urban areas and 25.93% in rural areas. Filtered kretek cigarettes contributed the second largest to the poverty line, namely 11.56% in urban areas and 10.90% in rural areas.
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The non-food commodities that make the largest contribution to both the urban and rural poverty lines are housing at 8.64% in urban areas and 8.34% in rural areas, then gasoline with a contribution of 4.13% in urban areas and 3.90% in rural areas.
Imam then explained that in March 2024, the urban poverty line was IDR 601,871 per capita. This is higher than in rural areas, which is IDR 556,874 per capita.
“If you look at the increase in the urban poverty line from March 2023 to March 2024, it is 5.72% or lower than the rural poverty line of 6.06%,” he added. (Z-2)
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