BPS Explains the Function of Deciles in the National Socio-Economic Single Data
Statistics Indonesia (BPS) has affirmed the strategic role of the National Socio-Economic Single Data (DTSEN) as the government’s single reference for planning and evaluating national programmes. Based on Presidential Instruction No. 4 of 2025, DTSEN integrates various large databases to ensure government policies are better targeted.
Head of BPS, Amalia Adininggar Widyasanti, explained that one crucial element in DTSEN is the use of ‘deciles’. She emphasised that deciles must be understood as a relative ranking of welfare, not an absolute measure of poverty or a specific nominal wealth figure.
A decile is a grouping of families based on their relative position in terms of welfare level. In this system, all families are ranked and divided into 10 groups, with each group covering approximately 10 per cent of total families.
‘Deciles indicate the relative position of a family compared to other families. The decile figure is not a single measure of economic condition, but rather a depiction of position in the welfare ranking,’ said Amalia in a written statement on Friday (21/8/2026).
The determination of deciles is not based solely on one indicator such as income or electricity capacity. BPS uses the Proxy Means Test (PMT) statistical method, which considers various characteristics simultaneously. This PMT method is an international standard used to estimate welfare when income data is difficult to verify directly.
As of 10 July 2026, DTSEN Version 3 of 2026 has encompassed very massive data to support national integration. DTSEN is built from the integration of the Integrated Social Welfare Data (DTKS), P3KE, and Regsosek, which are then synchronised with population data from the Directorate General of Population and Civil Registration of the Ministry of Home Affairs.
Members of the public who find data discrepancies can request updates through the proposal and rebuttal mechanism on official channels such as cekbansos.kemensos.go.id, the SIKS-NG application at the village/sub-district level, or through the dtsen-form.bps.go.id page. BPS emphasised that submitting an update request does not automatically change the decile position, as the data will be recalculated based on the applicable statistical method.