Jayanty Nada Shofa, Jakarta – After three straight months of decline, Indonesia's consumer confidence finally grew in April, the country's central bank announced Friday.
A survey by Bank Indonesia revealed that Indonesia had recorded a consumer confidence index (CCI) of 121.7 points last month. Anything above 100 means that the average Indonesian consumer feels upbeat about the country's economy. Although past CCI levels showed that Indonesians had been optimistic, their confidence level had been dropping throughout the first quarter of 2025.
Indonesia kicked off the year with 127.2 in CCI level, down from 127.7 recorded at the end of 2024. CCI dropped to 126.4 in February, and fell further to 121.1 the following month before it finally bounced back to 121.7 in April.
"The rise in optimism stems from the consumers' growing confidence towards the current economic conditions. They also remain upbeat about the future," the Bank Indonesia report wrote.
Data also showed that people whose monthly spending topped Rp 5 million ($302.5) remained hopeful about the economy as their CCI levels remained the same at 127.9 for the past two months. Those who spent between Rp 4.1 million and Rp 5 million a month had their CCI rising from 123 in March to 125.2 in April. Consumers who are in their 20s become the most optimistic age group, recording 126.4 in CCI.
Bank Indonesia also revealed people's perceptions of the present situation compared to six months ago. Indonesia's so-called current economic condition index (CECI) had soared from 110.6 in March to 113.7 in April. Despite the massive layoffs, the respondents admitted that there were now more jobs available as scores in the current employment sub-index went up from 100.3 to 101.6 over the same period.
People believed that they now earned more, as seen in the 4.1-point increase in the current income sub-index. The government usually announces annual minimum wage raises. The minimum wage in Indonesia's modern metropolis, Jakarta, had jumped 6.5 percent to nearly Rp 5.4 million for 2025.
Even so, Indonesians chose to lower their expectations for the future. The consumer expectation index (CEI) – which reflects their perceptions for the next six months – had weakened from 131.7 to 129.8. Expectations in the business activities sub-index fell 3.7 points in April. People fear that finding jobs would get even harder as the job availability expectation sub-index plummeted to 123.5.
The average Indonesian consumer spent 74.8 percent of their income in April, as data showed people were now saving more. Indonesians' saving-to-income ratio had improved to 14.8 percent.
Bank Indonesia's latest report became some sort of a breath of fresh air after Indonesia announced that it failed to reach 5 percent growth in the first quarter. Indonesia's growth had slowed to 4.87 percent year-on-year (yoy) – something that the national statistics agency BPS attributed to the lack of election season which usually spurs government spending.
"We had the elections in Q1 2024, but we did not have any this year. The lack of elections was among the reasons behind the 4.87 percent growth," BPS' chief Amalia Adininggar Widyasanti told reporters earlier this week.
Source: https://jakartaglobe.id/business/indonesia-ends-threemonth-decline-in-consumer-confidenc