8 Billion Lives
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Where you could be born / Asia / South-Eastern Asia

Born in Indonesia

About 1 in 29 people born in 2023 started life in Indonesia. A boy can expect to live 69 years and a girl 73, up from 39 and 42 in 1950. Most people live in cities, and 89% have basic drinking water.

1 in 29
odds of being born here
4.5 million births · Ranked 5th of 230
69 / 73
years of life, boys / girls
Was 39 / 42 in 1950
$2,979
income per person a year
2021 dollars · Ranked 148th of 203 · extrapolated
58%
live in a city
The rest live in villages

Life and health

Life lasts about 31 years longer than in 1950. Child deaths fell from 299 in every 1,000 births to 21.

How long a life lasts

GirlsBoys

020406080195019852023

Years a baby born that year could expect to live.

Children who die before age 5
0100200300400195019852023

In every 1,000 births.

Life expectancy at birth69.0 years for boys, 73.3 for girlsUN WPP 2024
Children who die before age 520.5 in every 1,000 birthsUN WPP 2024
Deaths a year2,118,000UN WPP 2024
Doctors per 1,000 people0.5World Bank WDI
Children immunized against measles82%World Bank WDI
Adults living with HIV0.4%World Bank WDI
New tuberculosis cases a year388 per 100,000 peopleWorld Bank WDI
Malaria cases a year2 per 1,000 people at riskWorld Bank WDI

Family

Women had 5.1 children on average in 1950. Now it is 2.1.

Children per woman
0246195019852023

Average over a lifetime.

Children per woman2.13UN WPP 2024
Average age of mothers at birth28.9 yearsUN WPP 2024

Money and work

If every 100 coins of income were shared out, the richest fifth would hold 43 and the poorest fifth 8.

Who gets the income
Share of all income by fifth of the population, 2025
8%Poorest fifth
12%Second
16%Middle
21%Fourth
43%Richest fifth
Income per personabout $2,979 a year (2021 dollars, adjusted for prices)World Bank PIP, scaled between survey years Extrapolated
Share of income going to the richest fifth / poorest fifth43% / 8% (2025)World Bank PIP
Unemployment3.3% of the workforce (2023)World Bank WDI
Price rises3.7% a year (2023)World Bank WDI
Growth in output per person4.2% (2023)World Bank WDI
Jobs in farming29% of jobsWorld Bank WDI
Self-employed53% of jobs (2025)World Bank WDI
Secondary school enrolment96% (can pass 100 when older students are counted)World Bank WDI

Daily life

The largest city is Jakarta, with 8.5 million people.

58%
live in cities
99%
have electricity at home
89%
have basic drinking water
Largest cities
People living there
Jakarta8.5 million
Surabaya3.0 million
Bekasi2.6 million
Bandung2.5 million
Medan2.5 million
Languages
Share of people who can use each
Indonesian64%
Javanese34%
Sundanese12%
Madurese6%
Malay3%
Indonesian is official.

Cities and regions

Every state, province and large city with a page.

Largest regions

West Java18.1 million
East Java9.9 million
Central Java9.0 million
Jakarta8.6 million
North Sumatra5.4 million
Banten5.0 million
Riau2.9 million
South Sumatra2.5 million
South Sulawesi2.3 million
East Kalimantan2.1 million

Sourced: GeoNames Population of each state, province or region.

Large cities

Sourced: GeoNames Cities with a page: a million people or more.

All 38 regions
  • West Java18.1 million
  • East Java9.9 million
  • Central Java9.0 million
  • Jakarta8.6 million
  • North Sumatra5.4 million
  • Banten5.0 million
  • Riau2.9 million
  • South Sumatra2.5 million
  • South Sulawesi2.3 million
  • East Kalimantan2.1 million
  • Bali1.7 million
  • West Sumatra1.5 million
  • Lampung1.4 million
  • West Kalimantan1.2 million
  • South Kalimantan1.2 million
  • Yogyakarta1.2 million
  • East Nusa Tenggara1.2 million
  • Aceh1.0 million
  • North Sulawesi933,166
  • West Nusa Tenggara906,987
  • Jambi885,171
  • Central Sulawesi753,474
  • Central Kalimantan676,118
  • Maluku636,155
  • Southeast Sulawesi614,274
  • Papua578,510
  • Bangka–Belitung Islands495,953
  • Bengkulu443,566
  • North Kalimantan415,749
  • North Maluku355,501
  • Central Papua278,641
  • Riau Islands276,616
  • Southwest Papua261,990
  • Gorontalo205,390
  • West Papua173,287
  • South Papua140,733
  • West Sulawesi139,683
  • Highland Papua87,404

People on the move

About 1.3% as many people born here live abroad as live here. The most common destinations are Malaysia, United Arab Emirates, Taiwan.

Where people born here live abroad
By country of residence, 2024
Malaysia1,761,502
United Arab Emirates298,351
Taiwan292,830
Residents born abroad0.2% (2024)World Bank WDI
People born here who live abroadequal to 1.3% of the people who live hereUN DESA migrant stock
Where they go mostMalaysia (1.8 million), United Arab Emirates (298,351), Taiwan (292,830)UN DESA migrant stock
Money sent home from abroadabout $17.6 billion a year (2025)World Bank WDI

Safety nets

31% of older people receive a pension. Help for someone who loses a job reaches 0%.

31%
of older people receive a pension (2021)
0%
of unemployed people receive a benefit (2022)

Events in the data

The game draws real events from these records, so a life lived here can meet them.

Reported COVID-19 deaths, 2020 to 2024162,063Our World in Data, from WHO
Significant earthquakes recorded since 1950123; the deadliest, in 2004, killed about 227,899 people (magnitude 9.1)NOAA NCEI
Deaths in organized violence9,183 between 1990 and 2024UCDP

Now live it.

Born in Indonesia, to a family drawn from these numbers. Every life replays exactly from its seed.

Be born in Indonesia

Elsewhere in Asia

All countries

How to read the sources. Every figure is sourced to a named dataset, shown beside it. A figure marked "Extrapolated" is estimated by a model because no survey covers the year. UN figures are for 2023, the latest year of UN estimates; other figures are the latest year their dataset has. Rank 1 is the highest figure among 230 countries and territories. All sources and licences