Population and Religion of Indonesia

Indonesia 

Population: 321.377.000

2050 [pic 1]

Indonesia 

Population: 255.708.000

2015 [pic 2]

POPULATION and RELIGION

Currently, Indonesia is the world's fourth most populous country (after China, India and the USA). In 2015, Indonesia's population numbered almost 256 million people in total, but this number is expected to jump to 321 million by 2050. Despite a fairly effective family planning program that has been in place since the 1967, Indonesia's population is projected to surpass that of the USA and become the biggest after China and India by 2043. Some say family planning should be revitalized based on the 1967 program to avoid Indonesia becoming the world's third most populous country, but this aim has faced a hurdle of religiously-based opinion that to follow family planning is equivalent to not being grateful to God.

One important strength of Indonesia's demographic composition in relation to its economy is that the country has a young population. This young population implies a - potentially - large workforce (thus making it of vital importance that this workforce is absorbed by employment opportunities).The median age in Indonesia is 28.1 years. It’s expected that in 2050 the median age will total 38,4 years. After this stage concern for the economy can arise because of a stagnating population growth and an aging population.

The UN also projects that by 2050 two thirds of Indonesia’s population will live in urban areas. Over the last forty years the country has experienced a process of rapid urbanization, resulting in the current situation in which over half of Indonesia's total population resides in urban areas. For the economy this constitutes a positive development as urbanization and industrialization are necessary to grow into the ranks of a middle income country.

According to Pew Research Center in 2011, Indonesia had a Muslim population of about 205 million as against India’s 177 million. India will retain a Hindu majority but also will have the largest Muslim population of any country in the world, surpassing Indonesia by 2050.

[pic 3]