Jakarta, 27 April, 2026 – The Government is optimistic about reducing extreme poverty in Indonesia to zero percent by 2026. This effort is reinforced by the government’s achievement in lifting 1.36 million people out of extreme poverty between March 2024 and September 2025.
The Minister of Creative Economy, Teuku Riefky Harsya, attended the Evaluation Meeting on the Implementation of Presidential Instruction (Inpres) Number 8 of 2025, held at the Ballroom Plaza Jamsostek, Jakarta, on Monday (27/4/2026).
The data was presented during the Evaluation Meeting on the Implementation of Presidential Instruction (Inpres) Number 8 of 2025, chaired by the Coordinating Minister for Community Empowerment, Abdul Muhaimin Iskandar. Through integrated government interventions, the extreme poverty rate was successfully reduced from 1.26 percent to 0.78 percent. This decrease of 0.48 percent is equivalent to a reduction in the number of people living in extreme poverty from 3.56 million to 2.2 million.
“We will synchronize and collaborate on programs focused on social protection and direct social assistance that can be directly experienced by the community, thereby creating new job opportunities as well as prioritizing economic empowerment, food security, and energy security,” said the Coordinating Minister for Community Empowerment during the meeting held at the Ballroom Plaza Jamsostek on Monday (27/4).
In addition, various empowerment programs have shown positive results, including social assistance programs reaching 8.56 million poor families, or 93.6 percent of the total target; the involvement of 2 million people in labor-intensive programs; access to capital for 2 million MSME actors; and improvements in basic services, with 99.4 percent of sub-districts now having health facilities and more than 82.3 percent of villages having access to basic education.
Documentation: Bureau for Communication of the Ministry of Creative Economy/Creative Economy Agency.
“The target is clear—zero percent extreme poverty by 2026—and this requires collective effort, consistency, and a focus on tangible results,” he added.
Building on these achievements, the Minister of Creative Economy/Head of the Creative Economy Agency, Teuku Riefky Harsya, outlined strategies to strengthen the creative economy in accordance with the aforementioned Presidential Instruction, specifically under the fourth dictum, point 24, which mandates the facilitation of creative economy business development for the poor and extremely poor. Therefore, the Ministry of Creative Economy reaffirmed its commitment to and role in community empowerment through the creative economy.
“Efforts to develop the creative economy in Indonesia are based on a hexahelix collaboration model to create quality jobs for the younger generation, thereby improving community welfare. The expansion of new job opportunities for poverty alleviation has reached 107 percent of the 2025 target as of last August,” stated the Minister during the meeting.
Documentation: Bureau for Communication of the Ministry of Creative Economy/Creative Economy Agency.
The Minister emphasized that creating quality jobs for young workers, such as Gen Z and millennials, is part of the implementation of the third Asta Cita of President Prabowo Subianto. In addition, the proportion of the workforce under the age of 42 has reached 57.2 percent.
“By strengthening the creative economy ecosystem across regions, we are optimistic about continuing to implement creative economy-based business development programs such as Creative Acceleration (AKTIF), the Creative Economy Business Forum, Creative Villages, and other integrated programs. These efforts aim to develop local potential with broader and sustainable impacts in reducing poverty, enabling communities to ‘move up the ladder’,” he continued.
During the meeting, the Minister of Creative Economy was accompanied by the Secretary of the Ministry of Creative Economy/Chief Secretary of the Creative Economy Agency, Dessy Ruhati. Also present were the Minister of Social Affairs Saifullah Yusuf; the Minister of Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) Maman Abdurrahman; the Minister of Religious Affairs Nasaruddin Umar; the Deputy Minister of Population and Family Development Ratu Ayu Isyana Bagoes Oka; along with other members of the Merah Putih Cabinet.
Kiagoos Irvan Faisal
Head of Bureau for Communication
Ministry of Creative Economy/Creative Economy Agency
