Indonesia’s labor market saw significant growth over the past year, adding 1.44 million jobs between August 2025 and August 2026, according to national employment statistics. This increase brought the total number of employed individuals to 147.99 million, reflecting the country’s expanding workforce.
The labor force in Indonesia also grew, reaching 155.37 million people, an increase of approximately 1.37 million compared with the previous year. The labor force participation rate, however, saw a slight decline, standing at 70.33% in August 2026, down from 70.59% a year earlier. Male participation continued to surpass female participation significantly, with rates of 84.16% and 56.37% respectively.
Agriculture remained the dominant sector for employment, accounting for 28.20% of the workforce. Meanwhile, the wholesale and retail trade sector contributed 17.86%, and the manufacturing sector employed 13.75% of workers, illustrating the diverse economic landscape of the country.
In terms of unemployment, Indonesia experienced improvement with the number of unemployed individuals decreasing by 77,000 to a total of 7.38 million. This brought the national unemployment rate down to 4.75%, a reduction of 0.09 percentage points from August 2025. This decline in unemployment indicates positive trends in the nation’s economic health and job market resilience.