JAKARTA, Indonesia

Indonesia’s population increased by 32.56 million over the past decade, the country’s statistics authority has announced.

Results of the 2020 Population Census show that Indonesia’s total population has reached 270.2 million, a 14% rise from the figure of 237.6 million recorded in 2010, the Central Bureau of Statistics said on Thursday.

Java Island accounts for 56.1%, or 151.59 million people, of the population – West Java has 48.27 million people, followed by 40.67 million in East Java, and 36.52 million in Central Java.

Maluku and Papua Islands are Indonesia’s least populated areas, with just 3.17% of the population, or 8.6 million people.

Men account for 136.66 million (50.58%) of the total population and women make up 133.54 million, the census report said.

“Total area of Indonesia is 1.9 million square kilometers. Therefore, population density in Indonesia is around 141 people per square kilometer,” read the report.

The data suggested that the average population growth rate between 2010 and 2020 was 1.25% per year, marking a fall from 1.49% in the 2000-2010 period.

“It also showed that people in the age group of 8-23 (Gen Z) make up the largest proportion of total population, accounting for 27.94%,” according to the report.

* Writing by Maria Elisa Hospita