Disaster-Prone Indonesia Allocates Rp1 Trillion for BNPB in 2027
Indonesia is one of the countries with the highest level of disaster vulnerability. Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, floods, landslides, and forest and land fires occur in succession and often cause significant social and economic impacts.
The high disaster risk in Indonesia is inseparable from its geographical and geological conditions. Indonesia lies within the Pacific Ring of Fire, a path of approximately 40,000 kilometres encircling the Pacific Ocean and known as one of the regions with the highest earthquake and volcanic activity in the world.
This path consists of oceanic trenches, volcanic arcs, and mountain belts that are close to one another. Indonesia is also situated at the meeting point of several major tectonic plates, namely the Indo-Australian, Eurasian, and Pacific plates, which makes seismic activity in various regions quite high.
These conditions make Indonesia vulnerable to earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and tsunamis. Indonesia’s position between two oceans also means that a number of regions face the risk of major earthquakes, including the potential for megathrust earthquakes.
However, the threat of disasters in Indonesia does not only stem from geological activity. Floods, tornadoes, landslides, and forest and land fires are also disasters that frequently occur and cause losses for the public.
Amid the high intensity of disasters, Indonesia’s disaster management budget has actually experienced a significant decline. This situation has drawn attention given the large potential social and economic losses that can be caused by various disasters in the country.
In the latest development, Indonesia has just been hit by a major earthquake. The strong earthquake once again demonstrated Indonesia’s high vulnerability to geological disasters. On Saturday (15/8/2026), a magnitude 7.7 earthquake occurred in the Mbay area, Nagekeo, East Nusa Tenggara (NTT), prompting the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) to issue a tsunami early warning for a number of areas in NTT, South Sulawesi, and West Nusa Tenggara.
Based on BMKG modelling, several areas were at alert level with potential waves of around 0.5 to 3 metres. The incident once again underscored the importance of preparedness and early warning systems in a country with a high level of seismic activity such as Indonesia.
Last year, Indonesia was also hit by a major disaster, namely the Sumatra floods, which were estimated to have caused losses of Rp68.7 trillion.
Although disasters are occurring more frequently, the budget of the National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) remains very small.
The BNPB budget allocation proposed through the 2027 Draft State Revenue and Expenditure Budget (RAPBN) is Rp1.003 trillion. This figure is indeed an increase compared with the 2026 allocation of Rp491 billion.
However, the budget proposed for 2027 is far smaller than in previous years.
In the 2027 RAPBN, the BNPB budget is planned at Rp1.003 trillion, more than double the 2026 state budget ceiling of Rp491 billion. Despite the sharp increase, the allocation is still relatively small compared with total state expenditure.
In 2025, BNPB’s initial ceiling was recorded at Rp1.427 trillion before being adjusted to around Rp4.98 trillion. Budget realisation was then estimated at around Rp4.48 trillion.
The BNPB budget ceiling was revised in 2025 due to the major Sumatra flood disaster.
The budget increase was also accompanied by a broader post-disaster recovery agenda. The government prepared a Post-Disaster Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Programme for Sumatra covering three provinces and 53 regencies/cities. The programme is focused on accelerating the recovery of basic infrastructure, connectivity, and social and economic activities in affected areas.
Recovery priorities include the construction and repair of housing, rehabilitation of water resources and flood control infrastructure, restoration of education and health facilities, and agricultural land. The government also emphasised risk-based spatial planning, environmental restoration, and strengthening community preparedness to reduce future disaster risk.
As a note, disaster management funding does not only come from the BNPB budget. In the 2027 RAPBN, the government has also prepared anticipatory funds for disaster handling through non-ministry/institution spending.
In addition to the disaster budget at BNPB, the government also provides an allocation for disaster reserve funds in the state budget. The average realisation of disaster reserve funds in the state budget over the 2014-2024 period was around Rp4.29 trillion per year.
Amid the high risk of disasters, the budget increase and strengthening of recovery programmes are important to bolster Indonesia’s preparedness while reducing the social and economic impact when disasters occur.