BPS Clarifies Decile Is Not a Single Benchmark for Poverty or Family Income
Head of Statistics Indonesia (BPS) Amalia Adininggar Widyasanti explained that the decile figures in the National Socio-Economic Single Data (DTSEN) should be understood as a depiction of relative position in welfare ranking, rather than as a single measure of a family’s economic condition. BPS emphasised that decile is neither an absolute measure of poverty nor a nominal measure of a family’s income or wealth.
“Decile shows the relative position of a family compared to other families based on various socio-economic characteristics,” Amalia said in a statement received in Jakarta on Sunday (23/8/2026).
As an example, a family in decile 3 means it is in the third group of ten groups in the relative welfare ranking. Families in the same decile do not necessarily have the same income, expenditure, or socio-economic conditions.
BPS explained that decile determination is not based solely on income, ownership of one type of goods, electrical power, occupation, or any single indicator.
The ranking considers various socio-economic characteristics together, including housing conditions, drinking water sources, cooking fuel and energy, asset ownership, electricity capacity and consumption, family composition, education, occupation, health, and disability.
This information is considered together using the Proxy Means Test (PMT) statistical method to estimate a family’s welfare level based on observable characteristics.
Because it uses a combination of various characteristics, a single condition or indicator alone does not automatically determine a family’s decile position.
PMT is a statistical approach that is also used internationally, particularly when household income or consumption information is difficult to obtain or verify completely.
This approach allows various observable socio-economic information to be used systematically to help estimate a family’s relative welfare position.
BPS stated that decile functions as a ranking tool that helps the government identify community groups based on their relative welfare position.
This information can be used by ministries and agencies as one basis for determining programme targets or priorities in accordance with the objectives and provisions of each programme.
Thus, decile is not a list of programme recipients and its use must always be read in the context of the relevant programme.
According to BPS, decile position can change as a family’s socio-economic conditions change and as its relative position compared to other families changes. Therefore, the relevance of DTSEN needs to be maintained through data updating.
A change in one indicator also does not automatically cause a change in decile because various characteristics are considered together in the ranking process.