Economic Census: Knowledge Investment to Navigate Development
Every day, the government makes various decisions that affect the public economy. These range from designing MSME development programmes, infrastructure construction, and market expansion to capital creation, encouraging investment, and evaluating existing policies. To ensure these decisions are accurate, the government must understand the true economic conditions.
The 2026 Economic Census is crucial as it collects data from business actors and households throughout Indonesia. This data serves as knowledge capable of providing a complete and up-to-date picture of the national economic condition.
This knowledge acts as a navigation for development. Much like a GPS helps determine a travel route, the results of the Economic Census help the government identify where economic activities are growing, which sectors require attention, which regions need promotion, and which groups should be prioritised. Consequently, decisions are based on actual conditions rather than mere estimates.
The benefits of the Economic Census do not end once data collection is complete. The greatest value of the census emerges when the data is used as the foundation for decision-making. The better the understanding, the more precise the identification of needs becomes.
The success of the Economic Census depends heavily on public participation. Accurate, complete, and honest responses will produce more precise data. Accurate data enriches knowledge, clarifies the navigation of development, and assists in producing sound decisions.
Conducting an Economic Census in Indonesia is no easy task. Indonesia is an archipelagic nation with vast territory, diverse geographical conditions, and millions of business actors spread even to remote areas. To reach all these regions, the 2026 Economic Census will involve approximately 251,000 officers who have undergone standardised training across Indonesia, from Sabang to Merauke.
Implementing a census on a national scale requires a significant budget. Therefore, the Economic Census is conducted once every ten years, typically in the middle of the decade. This economic census is also performed by many other countries. The Central Bureau of Statistics (BPS) has been preparing for the implementation of the Economic Census since 2024, a period of over two years.
The budget for the Economic Census is an investment in knowledge. This investment generates the knowledge that serves as navigation for Indonesia’s development. Its value lies not only in the costs incurred during data collection but in the benefits generated when the data is used to guide decisions. This applies not only to government decisions but also to business actors during expansion, researchers providing recommendations, prospective entrepreneurs opening their first businesses, MSMEs seeking to scale up, and the general public experiencing a high-quality economy.