August 11, 2026 | 10:52 am
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - WHEN Statistics Indonesia (BPS) announced that Indonesia’s economy had expanded by 5.29 percent in the second quarter of 2026, many raised an eyebrow. There is an expression popular among Gen Z that neatly captures the unease: growth that strong, in this economy?
The phrase “in this economy” has long evolved into a popular meme across the English-speaking world, propelled by social media. In Indonesia, its popularity has surged only over the past year. Young people use it to convey sarcasm and resignation in the face of increasingly difficult economic circumstances. It is humor laced with irony—shorthand for ambitions that seem unattainable because economic reality has put them beyond reach.
Skepticism towards the 5.29 percent figure is therefore understandable. Nor is this the first BPS growth estimate to prompt questions. In the first quarter of 2026, the statistics agency reported remarkably strong growth of 5.61 percent, against market consensus of about 5.3 percent. A gap of 0.3 percentage points is significant when it comes to gross domestic product growth.
The discrepancy was even wider in the second quarter. A day before BPS published its official figure on August 5, the Institute for Economic and Social Research at the University of Indonesia (LPEM UI) estimated growth of just 4.8 percent. That left a gap of 0.49 percentage points with the official figure. LPEM UI is a well-regarded research institution with a long record of economic analysis and respected economists behind its forecasts.
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