Jayapura, Jubi – The Acting Governor of Papua, Ridwan Rumasukun, announced that Papua’s Human Development Index (HDI) showed a positive increase of 1.27 percent by 2022. In 2022, Papua’s HDI reached 61.39, indicating notable growth compared to the previous year’s HDI of 60.62.
During a meeting with members of the Papua Legislative Council in Jayapura City on Tuesday, July 25, 2023, Rumasukun emphasized that the 2022 HDI growth was significantly better than the previous year’s, showcasing the increasing visibility of people-centered development in the region.
Rumasukun further pointed out that the rise in Papua Province’s HDI aligns with Indonesia’s overall HDI improvement, which can be attributed to effective handling of the COVID-19 pandemic and continuous economic progress.
He highlighted that Papua’s HDI has made considerable progress since 2010, increasing from a “low” level to a “medium” level, with the HDI growing by an average of 1 percent per year during the 2010-2022 period.
Discussing poverty in the region, Rumasukun revealed that the number of impoverished individuals in Papua Province as of March 2023 was 915,150, showing a reduction of 6,970 people compared to March 2022. The percentage of poor people in March 2023 was recorded at 26.03 percent, a decrease of 0.53 percentage points compared to March 2022.
Regarding the economy, he pointed out that Papua experienced growth following the containment of the COVID-19 pandemic. In the third quarter of 2022, the mining and quarrying sector grew by 5.78 percent compared to the same period in 2021. The transportation and warehousing business field exhibited the highest growth rate at 22.95 percent.
Meanwhile, regarding Papua’s Open Unemployment Rate (TPT), it was 2.83 percent in August 2022, showing a decline compared to August 2021 when it reached 3.33 percent. He mentioned that the TPT in urban areas (7.03 percent) was significantly higher than in rural areas (1.43 percent), indicating that economic growth in Papua has successfully generated job opportunities.