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The average wage of employees also saw a year-on-year increase, rising to IDR3.3mn in 2025 (August 2024: IDR3.27mn).
Indonesia's Labour Situation report, which was released on 5 November 2025, revealed a rise in the number of employed people in August 2025 – up by 1.90mn year-on-year to record 146.54mn.
The report was broken down into two major categories:
- Labour situation, and
- Average wage of employees.
Labour situation
Working-age population and labour force
The working-age population, which is comprised of all people aged 15 years or older, generally increases in line with overall population growth. In August 2025, the working-age population was recorded at 218.17mn people, which is an increase from 2.80mn people compared to August 2024.
Of this total, the majority, which is approximately 154.00mn people, were in the labour force, while 64.17mn people were not in the labour force. The labour force in August 2025 consisted of 146.54mn employed people and 7.46mn unemployed people.
Compared to August 2024, the numbers of the labour force and employed increased by 1.89mn people and 1.90mn people respectively, while the number of unemployed people decreased by 4,000 people.
The labour force participation rate, which is defined as the proportion of labour force to the total working-age population, indicates the percentage of working-age population that is economically active in a particular country/region.
In August 2025, the labour force participation rate in Indonesia was 70.59% in August 2025, indicating a decrease of 0.04 percentage points (p.p.) compared to the previous year.
Segregating by sex, the male labour force participation rate in August 2025 was 84.40%, higher than that of females (56.63%). Compared to August 2024, the male labour force participation rate decreased by 0.26p.p., while the female labour force participation rate increased by 0.21p.p.
Employed persons
Employment is defined as any activity performed by a person for at least one hour a week to earn income or to assist others in earning income or obtaining profit. The number of employed people has been presented based on characteristics such as industry, employment status, educational attainment, and more.
Industry
The number of employed people by industry reflects the employment structure within labour market. According to the August 2025 National Labour Force Survey, the top three industries with the largest shares of employment were:
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing (28.15%),
- Wholesale and retail trade, repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles (18.73%), and
- Manufacturing (13.86%).
Compared to August 2024, the industries that recorded the largest increases in employment were:
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing (0.49mn people),
- Accommodation and food service (0.42mn people), and
- Manufacturing (0.30mn people).
Meanwhile, the industries that recorded the largest declines in employment were:
- Financial activities (0.06mn people),
- Other service activities (0.06mn people), and
- Real estate (0.05mn people).
Employment status
In August 2025, most employed individuals in Indonesia were classified as employees, making up 38.74% of the workforce. On the other end of the spectrum, only 3.46% were employers supported by permanent and paid workers — the smallest group by employment status.
Compared to August 2024, the biggest increase was seen among casual workers in agriculture, which rose by 0.34p.p. Meanwhile, the largest declines were recorded among own-account workers and unpaid or contributing family workers, both dropping by 0.38p.p.
Employment status in Indonesia can also be distinguished between formal and informal work. Formal activities include employees and employers with permanent paid staff. Informal activities, on the other hand, cover own-account workers, casual workers, unpaid family workers, and employers assisted by temporary or unpaid workers.
As of August 2025, 57.8% of employed people — around 84.70mn — were engaged in informal work. The remaining 42.2%, or 61.84mn people, were in formal employment. Notably, formal employment saw a slight increase of 0.15p.p. compared to the previous year.
Education
The distribution of employed people by educational attainment continued to exhibit a similar pattern to that observed in August 2023 and August 2024. In August 2025, 34.75% of the total employed people had a highest educational attainment of primary school and below. Meanwhile, the proportion of employed people with a Diploma IV, Bachelor, Master, or Doctoral degree (10.84%) has experienced an increasing trend since August 2023.
Compared to previous year, the percentage of employed people with their highest educational attainment at primary school and below, Junior High School, and Diploma I/II/III decreased by 1.05p.p., 0.51p.p., and 0.10p.p. respectively. Meanwhile, the percentage of employed people who had completed Senior High School, Vocational High School, and Diploma IV, Bachelor, Master, or Doctoral Degree education levels experienced an increase, with the largest increase at the Vocational High School education level, by 1.03p.p..
Working hours
According to its working hours, employed people are classified into full-time workers (35 hours or more hours worked per week) and part-time workers (less than 35 hours worked per week). Part-time workers are further divided into underemployed and voluntary part-time workers.
In August 2025, about 67.32% of employed people worked full-time, while 32.68% worked part-time. The percentage of part-time workers increased by 0.74p.p. from August 2024. Compared to August 2023 and August 2024, the percentage of part-time workers also increased by 1.60p.p. and 0.75p.p. respectively.
Commuting activities
Employed people who carry out their work activities from outside the regency/city where they live and routinely commute to and from their home on the same day are defined as commuter workers.
In August 2025, the number of commuter workers reached 7.69mn people, or about 5.25% of the total employed people. Compared to the previous year, the number of commuter workers increased by 0.10mn people (0.01p.p.).
Unemployment
Unemployment are those aged 15 years and over who are not currently employed but are actively seeking a job; preparing to start a new business; have been accepted for a job but have not yet started/are ready to start a business but have not yet begun; or have stopped looking for work due to discouragement. The unemployment rate serves as an indicator of the underutilisation of the labour supply and measures the proportion of people who are not engaged in employment within the labour force.
In August 2025, the unemployment rate was 4.85%. It indicates that about five out of 100 labour forces were unemployed. The unemployment rate fell by 0.06p.p. in August 2025 compared to August 2024. In August 2025, the male unemployment rate was 4.85%, which was higher than the female rate of 4.84%. Both the male and female rates decreased by 0.05 and 0.08p.p. respectively, compared to August 2024.
Average wage of employees
The average wage/salary of employees one month prior to the survey — referred to as employee wages — based on the results of the August 2025 Sakernas, was IDR3.33mn. Male employees received IDR3.59mn, which was higher than the IDR 2.86mn received by female employees.
By industry, employees in information and communication earned the highest wage at IDR5.28mn, while those in other service activities received the lowest wage at IDR1.97mn.
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Lead image / BPS-STATISTICS INDONESIA
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