Alvin Darlanika Soedarjo, Jakarta – More Indonesians say they are economically worse off compared to 12 months ago and most cite the increased costs of basic goods and travel expenses as the main reasons, an end-of-year survey says.

"We found that more people (said they) were worse off than better off. There has been a... trend since June 2006," TNS Indonesia research director Daniel Lindgren said.

Daniel, who made the study with research director Yanti Zen, interviewed more than 1,000 people aged 18 from provinces around the country.

The pair found 32 percent of people said they were worse off this December compared to 26 percent in June. "It appears that there (has not been) a full recovery from the fuel price increases," Daniel said.

About a quarter of the respondents who believed they were worse off said the rising cost of basic goods was the main cause. Other reasons for being worse off included losing one's job, little or no pay increases, increased family sizes and illness.

The study found a greater proportion of people said they were worse off in Java than in other areas. About 36 percent of those who put themselves in the worse-off category lived in Java compared with 23 percent in Sumatra and around 22 percent in other provinces.

Those who said they were better off credited their success to improved business conditions. Reasons for being better off included higher incomes, new jobs, bonuses, more income earners in the family and less people to take care of in the house.

The survey found 51 percent of those surveyed said their standard of living remained unchanged, down from 54 percent in June.

Daniel said in Jakarta, people seemed to be less optimistic about their prospects for this year. "The Gallup end-of-year study, which TNS does the data collection for in Indonesia, shows that 33 percent of adults in Jakarta said 2007 would be worse for them than 2006," Daniel said.

Only 22 percent of Jakartans thought things would look up in 2007. Researchers found no significant differences between men and women's responses to the survey.

TNS conducted the study by interviewing 1,004 people in North Sumatra, West Sumatra, Riau, Jambi, South Sumatra, Lampung, Jakarta, West Java, Banten, Central Java, Yogyakarta, East Java, Bali, West Nusa Tenggara, West Kalimantan; and South, Central and Southeast Sulawesi.