BPS Launches 2026 Economic Census in Southwest Papua, Targeting 53,000 Business Units

The Central Statistics Agency (BPS) of Papua Barat Province has officially launched the 2026 Economic Census (SE) for the Southwest Papua Province region. The launch was marked by a large assembly held at Modern City Square, Reclamation Area, Sorong City, on Friday (12/6/2026).

Southwest Papua Governor Elisa Kambu stressed that the data produced from this census will be the foundation for regional and national development for the next decade. He requested that all officers carry out this mandate with high integrity so that the data collected is accurate and of high quality.

‘The results of the census that you collect will be the basis for Indonesia’s and Southwest Papua’s development for the next 10 years. Therefore, the data must be accurate and must not be done carelessly,’ Kambu told hundreds of census officers.

Head of BPS Papua Barat Province, Merry, explained that the Economic Census is mandated by Law Number 16 of 1997 and is conducted every 10 years. The 2026 implementation is the fifth national economic census.

Based on BPS administrative data, there are approximately 53,000 business units in Southwest Papua that will be the object of data collection. In addition to recording business activities from micro to large scale, the SE 2026 also aims to update family socio-economic data. This step is expected to support local governments in designing more effective and targeted social protection programmes.

Full support also came from the Sorong City Government. Head of the Sorong City Communication and Informatics Office, James Burung, stated that outreach had been conducted since April 2026 to ensure officers could reach all communities across 10 districts and 41 sub-districts in Sorong City.

The event concluded with the symbolic presentation of attributes to census officers and the release of balloons by Governor Elisa Kambu, marking the start of a major step in mapping the economy of Indonesia’s youngest province.