Indonesia’s shrinking middle class casts shadow on economic rise

Nearly 10 million Indonesians have fallen out of the middle class since 2019, according to government statistics.

Medan, Indonesia – Halimah Nasution used to feel as if she had it all.

For years, she and her husband Agus Saputra made a good living renting out supplies for weddings, graduations and birthdays.

Even after splitting their earnings among several of their siblings, the couple in Indonesia’s North Sumatra province took in about 30 million rupiahs ($1,917) each month.

Spending about one-quarter of their takings each month, the couple belonged to the upper reaches of Indonesia’s middle class, officially defined as those with monthly outgoings of between two million rupiahs ($127) and 9.9 million rupiahs ($638).

Then the COVID-19 pandemic hit.