The viral video shows the shocked reaction of foreigners when they find out the average salary of Indonesian workers.
They think the average wage of Indonesian workers is around Rp15 million to Rp75 million per month.
The video was uploaded by the TikTok account @stevenapriliano. When they were told that the average minimum wage in Indonesia was Rp4.5 million/month, these foreign tourists seemed surprised and couldn’t believe it.
@stevenapriliano Berapa ya kira2 pendapatan orang di Indonesia menurut orang Amerika ? ???? Jumlah penghasilan diambil dari rata2 UMR pekerja tetap / pekerja biasa di Indonesia ya #kerjadiamerika #hidupdiamerika #fyp #fyp?
? Monkeys Spinning Monkeys – Kevin MacLeod & Kevin The Monkey
“That’s crazy,” said a foreigner in the video, quoted on Wednesday, 19th July 2023. It is known that the foreigner came from the United States.
Another foreigner even questioned how people with a salary of Rp4.5 million/month can live and be fine. There are also foreigners who equate wage conditions in Indonesia with Jamaica.
“What the f***. Yeah, it’s the same as in Jamaica,” he said. Initially, the foreigner thought that the average salary of Indonesian workers was Rp22.5 million to Rp30 million per month.
It is not surprising that US citizens are surprised by the size of the minimum wage in Indonesia. This is because the minimum salary in the country averages double digits per month, and is even in the top 10 highest in the world.
Based on data from the Central Statistics Agency (BPS), Indonesia’s per capita Gross Domestic Product (GDP) reached US$4,783.9 (Rp71 million) in 2022. This means that the average Indonesian population only has an income of around Rp5.9 million per month.
Meanwhile, World Bank data recorded Indonesia’s gross national income (GNI) per capita of US$4,580 in 2022. This figure has increased by around 9.8% on an annual basis, but is still inferior to several countries, especially in ASEAN.
The following is the GNI per capita of ASEAN countries in 2022:
- Singapore: US$67,200
- Brunei Darussalam: US$31,410
- Malaysia: US$11,780
- Thailand: US$7,230
- Indonesia: US$4,580
- Vietnam: US$4,010
- Philippines: US$3,950
- Laos: US$2,360
- Timor Leste: US$1,970
- Cambodia: US$1,700
- Myanmar: US$1,210