Census: Indonesia Grows by 3m a Year

Census: Indonesia Grows by 3m a Year

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Indonesia’s population is continuing to grow rapidly, expanding by 30 million in the past decade, preliminary results of the national census show.

The world’s fourth largest nation now numbers an estimated 235 million to 240 million people, Central Statistics Agency head Rusman Heriawan revealed on Monday.

With about 90 percent of the monthlong national census now completed, Rusman said the agency, better known as the BPS, believed the population would not top 240 million.

“The number of Indonesian people is between 235 and 240 million,” he said on the sidelines of a food security conference.

The last national population census in 2000 put the population at 205 million, while the best estimates for 2009 were around 231 million, he said. The figures mean the nation has added three million people a year.

“We have to make new projections based on the census, such how to compose a food security strategy in regard to demand for rice, corn, beef and so on. We can no longer use the current data, but should make a prediction based on the population 10 years ahead,” Rusman said.

Opening the conference, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said Indonesia should be aware of the impact on food stocks of the fast-growing population.

“The population needs food,” he said. “Meanwhile, around the world there is an increase in the number of middle-class people, who consume more food. Growing demand is not only caused by population growth but also the rise in their [prosperity] levels.”

A population of 235 million this year would mean the annual population growth rate has averaged 1.4 percent over the past decade, while 240 million would mean an average annual growth rate of 1.6 percent.

Home Affairs Minister Gamawan Fauzi said the rapid population growth showed the country’s family planning program, remarkable for having successfully reined in an explosive population rise during the three decades under President Suharto, was no longer effective.
“Our family planning program is not running well, especially in outer regions,” Gamawan said.

Suharto’s program was internationally recognized as having pushed down the population growth rate to 1.6 percent by 1996 from 2.3 percent at its inception in 1972. The end of Suharto’s highly centralized government in 1998 was followed by decentralization, which also resulted in a waning emphasis on family planning.

“Probably people have already forgotten the family planning program,” Rusman said.

He said another aspect highlighted by the preliminary results was that migration patterns were changing. The largest migration levels were recorded in cities such as Denpasar, Manokwari in Papua, Mamuju in West Sulawesi, Batam and Pekanbaru in Riau.

“Denpasar and Manokwari have become migration destinations as they are provincial capitals,” Rustam said. “Developing districts and cities such as Mamuju, Batam and Pekanbaru are also becoming target destinations. Regional autonomy has significantly changed the map of the Indonesian people.”

The census is due to be completed by May 31.