Indonesia

Indonesia: Large Population, Modest Military Spending Relative to Size

Indonesia's economy reached $1.4 trillion in 2024, per the World Bank's WDI data, on a population of 283.5 million — giving a GDP per capita of $4,925 the same year. The country's size is not matched by its military outlays: SIPRI's 2025 figures put defense spending at $15.0 billion, or 1.045 percent of GDP under SIPRI's own GDP series. That share should not be recalculated against the World Bank's GDP figure, since SIPRI uses a separate GDP estimate for the ratio.

Fiscal and External Position

The IMF's World Economic Outlook projects government debt at 41.5 percent of GDP for 2026, a moderate level by regional standards. Foreign reserves stood at $144.5 billion in 2025, per IMF IFS data, providing a sizable external buffer relative to the debt load.

Military and Power Capacity

Active military personnel numbered 396,000 as of 2022, according to the Correlates of War National Material Capabilities (COW NMC) dataset — the most recent year available in this record. The same 2022 dataset puts Indonesia's Composite Index of National Capability (CINC) score at 0.0209. Both figures predate the 2025 SIPRI spending data by three years, and no more recent personnel or CINC figures are available here.

Governance

V-Dem's 2025 scores show Indonesia's electoral democracy index at 0.462 and its liberal democracy index at 0.296 — the latter notably lower, indicating weaker constraints on executive power and civil liberties protections relative to the electoral process itself. State capacity scores 0.338, the lowest of the three governance measures.

Energy

Indonesia's primary energy consumption reached 10.745 exajoules in 2024, per Our World in Data's energy series, with electricity generation of 371.54 TWh. The country produced 347.964 TWh of oil and 713.887 TWh of gas that year, the latter nearly double oil output in energy terms — consistent with Indonesia's role as a significant gas producer. All four energy figures are from the same 2024 reporting year, allowing direct comparison.

Data Gaps

No figures for nuclear capability, alliance membership, or more recent (2023-2025) personnel or CINC data are present in this record. The personnel and CINC figures carry a three-year lag against the economic and spending data and should be read with that gap in mind. The 41.5 percent debt figure is an IMF projection for 2026 rather than a recorded outturn, and should be treated as a forward estimate, not an audited result.

Sources: World Bank WDI, IMF WEO, IMF IFS, SIPRI Milex, COW NMC, V-Dem v15, Our World in Data (Energy)