Latest Study: Indonesia's 5 Richest People Need 603 Years to Spend Their Wealth
Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia - Indonesia’s super-rich individuals have no truck with the term ‘nasakom’ or ‘nasib satu koma’, meaning getting paid on the 1st and being broke soon after. The phrase often associated with salaries that are quickly depleted.
In fact, research by the Center of Economic and Law Studies (CELIOS) indicates that it would take hundreds of years for Indonesia’s super-rich to spend their wealth.
“603 years, the time required for the top five trillionaires to deplete their wealth if each spends Rp2 billion every day,” Celios stated in its report on Indonesia’s Economic Inequality 2026, quoted on Tuesday (28/4/2026).
Over the period 2019-2025, the wealth of Indonesia’s 50 richest people nearly doubled, from around Rp2,508 trillion to Rp4,651 trillion in 2026. That amount is equivalent to one-fifth of Indonesia’s GDP.
The Celios research, compiled by Media Wahyudi Askar, Galau, D. M., Yudhistira, B., Hidayah, I., Fikri, B., Lianasari, and Darmawan, shows that more than half of the super-rich group’s wealth in Indonesia comes from extractive activities or exploitation of natural resources such as coal, palm oil, and nickel.
From 2019 to 2022, the contribution of the energy and extractive sectors to total wealth was 39-46%. Then, by 2026, the proportion of the 50 super-rich’s wealth from the extractive sector surged to 57.8%.
Celios observes wealth inequality between Indonesia’s crazy rich and the general population. Additionally, inequality is evident in the benefits and harms received by ordinary citizens.
According to the Celios report, the median wealth of Indonesia’s 50 super-rich in 2026 reaches Rp52.3 billion, while the median wealth of the population is only Rp84.35 million.
Looking ahead, Celios sees the gap widening, where by 2050, the median wealth of the super-rich is projected to surge 106% to Rp107.7 trillion. In contrast, the median wealth of the population only rises 20% to Rp101 million.
“The economy based on the exploitation of natural resources generates huge profits for a handful of super-rich groups. Meanwhile, the additional costs due to environmental damage are borne by society,” it emphasised.
Real economic inequality is very close to daily life; simply, society can look at their current savings balance and compare it with the savings trends of the rich. Celios found that savings of the rich group grow faster than those of small-scale society. Jumbo deposits above Rp5 billion increasingly dominate 56.45% of total money in banks. Meanwhile, almost all customers in Indonesia (around 98.91%) are those with balances below Rp100 million.
“The economy may grow above 5 percent, but if the economy is only enjoyed by a handful of people, it’s not growth, but economic regression polished with numbers.”