DTSEN Becomes a Joint Reference, BPS Explains the Meaning of Decile

DTSEN Becomes a Joint Reference, BPS Explains the Meaning of Decile Jakarta, (21/8)- The National Single Social and Economic Data (DTSEN) is now a joint reference for the government in supporting the planning, targeting, and evaluation of various programs. With one integrated and continuously updated data reference, ministries/agencies can use the same information base to support more targeted policies and programs. The use of DTSEN is regulated in Presidential Instruction Number 4 of 2025. In its implementation, the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) is tasked with compiling and managing DTSEN. Meanwhile, ministries/agencies and regional governments play a role according to their respective duties and authorities, including providing data sources and supporting continuous updating. DTSEN was initially built by integrating the Integrated Social Welfare Data (DTKS), Targeting for the Acceleration of Extreme Poverty Eradication (P3KE), and Socioeconomic Registration (Regsosek). The data is then enriched with various administrative data and periodically synchronized with population data managed by the Directorate General of Population and Civil Registration (Dirjen Dukcapil), Ministry of Home Affairs. One important piece of information in the DTSEN is deciles, which are groupings of families based on their relative welfare. Families are ranked based on various socioeconomic characteristics, then divided into 10 groups, each comprising approximately 10 percent of families. Decile 1 represents the group with the lowest relative welfare level, while decile 10 represents the group with the highest relative welfare level. The Head of BPS RI, Amalia Adininggar Widyasanti, explained that decile numbers need to be understood as a relative ranking. "Deciles indicate the relative position of a family compared to other families based on various socioeconomic characteristics. Therefore, decile numbers need to be understood as a depiction of relative position in the welfare ranking, not as a sole measure of a family's economic condition," Amalia explained in a written statement in Jakarta, Friday (21/8). Thus, deciles are not an absolute measure of poverty or a nominal measure of a family's income or wealth. For example, a family in decile 3 is in the third of ten groups in the relative well-being ranking. Families in the same decile do not always have the same income, expenditures, or socioeconomic conditions. Decile determination is not based solely on income, ownership of a single item, electricity capacity, employment, or a single indicator. The ranking considers various socioeconomic characteristics collectively, including housing conditions, drinking water sources, fuel and energy for cooking, asset ownership, electricity consumption and power, family composition, education, employment, health, and disability. This information is considered collectively using the Proxy Means Test (PMT) statistical method to estimate a family's level of well-being based on observable characteristics. Because it uses a combination of characteristics, a single condition or indicator alone does not determine a family's decile position. The PMT is a statistical approach used internationally, especially when complete information on household income or consumption is difficult to obtain or verify. This approach allows for the systematic use of various observable socioeconomic information to help estimate a family's relative well-being. Deciles serve as a ranking tool that helps the government identify community groups based on their relative welfare. This information can be used by ministries/agencies as a basis for determining program targets or priorities in accordance with the objectives and provisions of each program. Therefore, deciles are not a list of program recipients and their use must always be interpreted in the context of the program in question. Decile positions can change as a family's socioeconomic conditions and relative position change compared to other families. Therefore, the relevance of the DTSEN needs to be continuously maintained through data updates. Changes in a single indicator do not automatically result in a change in decile, as various characteristics are considered simultaneously in the ranking process. DTSEN updates are conducted using various sources, including administrative data, census and survey results, updates by ministries/agencies and local governments, field checks, and updates submitted by the public through available channels. As of July 10, 2026, DTSEN Version 3 of 2026 included 290.13 million individual records.