DTSEN Becomes Common Reference, BPS Explains the Meaning of Decile
The National Socio-Economic Single Data (DTSEN) has now become the government’s common reference in supporting the planning, targeting, and evaluation of various programmes. This integrated and continuously updated data is expected to help the government formulate policies and determine programme targets more accurately.
In its implementation, the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) is tasked with compiling and managing DTSEN. Meanwhile, ministries, agencies, and regional governments play roles according to their respective duties and authorities, such as providing data sources and supporting continuous updating. The use of DTSEN is regulated in Presidential Instruction Number 4 of 2025.
DTSEN was built by integrating three databases: the Integrated Social Welfare Data (DTKS), the Targeting for the Acceleration of Extreme Poverty Elimination (P3KE), and the Socio-Economic Registration (Regsosek). This data is then enriched with various administrative data and periodically synchronised with population data from the Directorate General of Population and Civil Registration (Dirjen Dukcapil) of the Ministry of Home Affairs.
One important piece of information in DTSEN is the decile, which is the grouping of families based on their relative welfare position. Families are ranked based on various socio-economic characteristics, then divided into 10 groups, each covering approximately 10% of families.
Decile 1 is the group with the lowest relative welfare level, while decile 10 is the group with the highest relative welfare level. Head of BPS RI Amalia Adininggar Widyasanti explained that the decile figure needs to be understood as a relative ranking.
“The decile shows the relative position of a family compared to other families based on various socio-economic characteristics. Therefore, the decile figure needs to be understood as a picture of relative position in welfare ranking, not as a single measure of a family’s economic condition,” Amalia explained in a written statement on Saturday (22/8/2026).
Thus, the decile is not an absolute measure of poverty nor a nominal measure of a family’s income or wealth. For 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 also do not always have the same income, expenditure, or socio-economic conditions.
Determining the decile is not based solely on income, ownership of one type of goods, electrical power, occupation, or one particular indicator. The ranking considers various socio-economic characteristics together, such as housing conditions, drinking water sources, cooking fuel and energy, asset ownership, electricity power and consumption, family composition, education, occupation, health, and disability.
This information is then processed using the Proxy Means Test (PMT) statistical method to estimate family welfare levels based on observable characteristics. Because it uses a combination of various characteristics, one condition or one indicator alone does not automatically determine a family’s decile position.
PMT is a statistical approach that is also used internationally, especially 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.
The decile serves as a ranking tool to help the government identify community groups based on relative welfare position. This information can be used by ministries and agencies as one basis for determining programme targets or priorities according to each programme’s objectives and provisions. Thus, the decile is not a list of programme recipients, and its use must always be read in the context of the relevant programme.
A decile position can change according to a family’s socio-economic conditions and changes in its relative position compared to other families. Therefore, DTSEN needs to be continuously updated, although a change in one indicator does not automatically change the decile because its determination considers various characteristics together.
DTSEN updating is carried out by utilising various sources, such as administrative data, census and survey results, updates by ministries, agencies, and regional governments, ground checks, and updates submitted by the public through available channels.
As of 10 July 2026, DTSEN version 3 of 2026 covers 290.13 million individual records and 95.98 million family records. This coverage continues to be updated so that the data increasingly reflects the latest socio-economic conditions of the community.
If the public finds information about themselves or their families that does not match actual conditions, updates can be submitted through the proposal and rebuttal mechanism on available official channels, including Cek Bansos (cekbansos.kemensos.go.id) or its application, SIKS-NG through village or sub-district operators, and Cek DTSEN (dtsen-form.bps.go.id).
Submitting an update does not mean the decile position changes automatically. The information submitted becomes part of the updating and recalculation process, so the decile position remains determined based on applicable data and methods.
“BPS together with ministries, agencies, and regional governments continues to carry out updates to maintain the quality of DTSEN so that it increasingly reflects community conditions. Public participation in ensuring that information about themselves and their families matches actual conditions is also an important part of this process,” said Amalia.