Insightful Reports: Indonesia’s Domestic Cost of Living and Quality of Living

Indonesia's diverse landscape and complex history impact living standards. Mercer Indonesia's survey on Cost of Living and Quality of Living disparities in major cities helps organizations make informed compensation decisions for domestic transfers, benefiting employee well-being.
Contact us

Indonesia, an archipelago spanning 5,120 km from east to west across 18,108 islands, is a nation of remarkable diversity, housing 277 million people who reside on 6,000 inhabited isles. The nation's complex history, social-economic patterns, and economic distribution significantly influence living standards.

Cost of Living differentials and spending behavior information are essential for companies, state-owned enterprises, and government and non-profit organizations operating across multiple cities or considering the transfer of employees from one city to another – whether on a permanent or temporary basis.

Mercer Indonesia conducted a survey focusing on disparities in the Cost of Living and Quality of Living across major cities in Indonesia to help organizations in understanding these variations and their influence on employee well-being.

By providing reliable information on Cost and Quality of Living differences, these reports help organizations in making fact-based compensation decisions and establishing location-relevant allowance structures for domestic transfers.

What do we cover?

  • Intercity indices:
    • Mean-to-mean index – comparing average prices
    • of base city and destination city.
    • Efficient index – comparing the lowest average price of base city and average price in destination city.
    • Convenience index – comparing the lowest average price in base city to the highest price in destination city, except for certain categories where it is compared against average price of base city.
  • Housing rental cost
    • Per area
    • Per number of rooms
    • Furnished and unfurnished
  • Education cost
  • Business travel expense
  • Medical expense
  • Actual prices on:
    • Food
    • Utensils
    • Clothing
    • Entertainment and sports
    • Home appliances
    • Transport

  • Political and social environment
  • Economic environment
  • Socio/cultural environment
  • Medical and health considerations
  • Schools and education
  • Public services and transportation
  • Recreation
  • Consumer goods
  • Housing
  • Natural environment

Cities the report covered:

Jawa

  • Bandung
  • Bekasi
  • Bogor
  • Cilegon
  • Cirebon
  • Jakarta
  • Malang
  • Semarang
  • Surabaya
  • Tangerang
  • Yogyakarta

Sumatera

  • Banda Aceh
  • Bandar Lampung
  • Batam
  • Jambi
  • Medan
  • Padang
  • Palembang
  • Pekanbaru
*to be confirmed

Kalimantan

  • Balikpapan*
  • Banjarmasin
  • Palangkaraya
  • Pontianak
  • Samarinda

Sulawesi

  • Kendari
  • Makassar
  • Mamuju*
  • Manado

Others

  • Ambon
  • Denpasar
  • Jayapura*
  • Kupang
  • Mataram
  • Timika

Flexible pricing options: choose the right report package for your needs

2023 Indonesia cost of living

  • 1 To 5 cities IDR 8,700,000 per city report
  • 6 To 10 cities IDR 8,300,000 per city report
  • 11 To 28 cities IDR 7,950,000 per city report
  • 29 cities and more IDR 7,550,000 per city report

2023 Indonesia quality of living

  • 1 To 5 cities IDR 5,650,000 per city report
  • 6 To 10 cities IDR 5,300,000 per city report
  • 11 To 28 cities IDR 5,000,000 per city report
  • 29 Cities and more IDR 4,650,000 per city report

2023 Indonesia cost of living and quality of living bundled

  • 1 To 5 cities IDR 13,050,000 per city report
  • 6 To 10 cities IDR 12,500,000 per city report
  • 11 To 28 cities IDR 12,000,000 per city report
  • 29 Cities and more IDR 11,400,000 per city report

*Cost of Living and Quality of Living Reports survey was conducted in 2023 as a basis for 2024

Let’s get started

For further information, or if you wish to see a sample of the report, please contact us.