Indonesia Readies 2026 Census to Capture 5.22 Billion Digital Payments and Hidden Informal Work
Updated
Updated · Asia Times · Jul 25
Indonesia Readies 2026 Census to Capture 5.22 Billion Digital Payments and Hidden Informal Work
1 articles · Updated · Asia Times · Jul 25
Summary
Indonesia’s 2026 Economic Census will use the updated 2025 KBLI classification to count platform-based businesses and household economic activity that traditional statistics often miss.
5.22 billion digital payment transactions in May 2026—up 28.14% year on year—and a 95.10% jump in QRIS use highlight how fast commerce is moving online while official measurement lags.
59.42% of Indonesia’s workforce still sits in the informal sector, showing digitalization is expanding livelihoods without fully shifting workers into formal employment.
That gap creates a policy blind spot: support for digital MSMEs, protections for platform workers and job-training programs can miss their targets when large parts of economic activity go uncounted.
Across Asia, where platform work is spreading quickly, Indonesia’s census reflects a broader push by governments and institutions to update labor and economic statistics for the digital era.