Indonesia for remote workers
Southeast Asian archipelago (capital Jakarta; Bali is the main nomad hub) with a 5-band progressive income tax (5%–35%), a deemed-profit norm (NPPN) that keeps freelancer burdens low, and — since April 2024 — the E33G Remote Worker KITAS, a dedicated remote-work stay permit requiring USD 60,000/year of foreign income. Low crime, cheap living, but modest fixed-broadband speeds and low national English proficiency.
Verified
At a glance
The headline numbers for Indonesia — each with its own source and freshness. A live official figure is not the same as a survey estimate or a 30-year climate normal.
What the tags meanofficial — live figure from a government or authorityopen data — open dataset (Eurostat, EEA, M-Lab, UdSC…)survey — survey or index estimatecurated — SettleMetric-assembled estimate — open the source for the method
Cost of living
i
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Mar 31, 2024
- Verified
- Jul 4, 2026
- Method
- BPS March-2024 average per-capita monthly expenditure is Rp 1,500,556 nationally (urban Rp 1,737,427), split food/non-food — but that is a rural-weighted per-capita floor far below a foreign remote worker's outlay. Curated single-person, non-rent urban (Jakarta-level) basket — groceries, eating out, transport/ride-hailing, utilities, mobile+home internet, modest leisure — sits around USD 650–750/month; recorded midpoint USD 700. NEEDS MANUAL REVIEW: this is a modelled basket anchored on BPS composition, not a single official basket figure; refine with itemised BPS urban non-food lines and current retail prices next cycle.
$700/mo
2024curated
Rent, 1–3 bed
i
SettleMetric — population-weighted average of covered cities (Bali, Jakarta)
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Jun 30, 2026
- Verified
- Jul 4, 2026
- Method
- Population-weighted mean of the rent-breakdown matrices of Bali, Jakarta; each cell averages the cities that report it. See each city page for its exact local matrix.
$410–$1,794
/mo
2026curated
Freelancer tax
i
SettleMetric tax engine over official DJP rules (pajak.go.id: NPPN + PPh Pasal 17 + PTKP)
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Jan 1, 2026
- Verified
- Jul 4, 2026
- Method
- Best cleanly-eligible scheme id-nppn-freelancer at €60,000 = 1,232,521,200 IDR (ECB 20,542.02 IDR/EUR). NPPN professional-services norm 50% → net income 616,260,600; minus PTKP TK/0 54,000,000 → PKP 562,260,600; progressive PPh (5/15/25/30%) = 112,678,180 IDR → 9.14% ≈ 9.1%. The 0.5% MSME final tax would give ~0.3% but its 7-year window and professional-services exclusion make it unreliable for a newly-registered foreign IT freelancer, so NPPN is the recorded best. Single filer; NPPN KLU-62 norm pending manual confirmation (50% vs 62.5% — see scheme notes).
9.1%
2026curated
Safety
i
UNODC via World Bank (Intentional homicides per 100,000 people, Indonesia)
Open data
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2022
- Verified
- Jul 4, 2026
- Notes
- Latest available UNODC-sourced value is 0.30 per 100,000 for 2022 (World Bank series VC.IHR.PSRC.P5, sourced from the UNODC Data Portal). Indonesia's recorded intentional-homicide rate is very low by global standards; reporting has gaps between years.
0.3/100k
2022open data
Internet
i
M-Lab NDT country aggregates for Indonesia (2023)
Open data
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2023
- Verified
- Jul 4, 2026
- Method
- Median download ≈ 9.3–9.8 Mbps across the 2023 daily country medians (~4.3M tests) from M-Lab's public NDT statistics API; recorded midpoint 9.5 Mbps. 2024/2026 aggregate files were not retrievable at the time of check.
- Notes
- M-Lab NDT is single-stream and reads far below Ookla-style figures (Ookla put Indonesia fixed broadband ~28–41 Mbps in 2024–2025) — comparable only within this criterion, never mixed with Ookla.
10 Mbps
2023open data
English
i
EF EPI 2025 — Indonesia rank 80/123, score 471 (Low Proficiency band)
Research
- Data as of
- Nov 1, 2025
- Verified
- Jul 4, 2026
- Notes
- Own band informed by EF EPI 2025 (attribution: EF Education First): Indonesia scores 471 (Low band) nationally, though Jakarta scores 523 (Moderate). Bahasa Indonesia is the sole official language; English is workable in tourist/expat zones (Bali, South Jakarta) and among younger professionals, but limited in government offices and everyday services nationwide → 'low'.
Low
2025survey
Private health
i
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Jul 4, 2026
- Verified
- Jul 4, 2026
- Method
- Comprehensive (outpatient + inpatient, ~USD 1m+ annual limit, small deductible) international/IPMI plans for a healthy 35-year-old resident foreigner in Indonesia are commonly quoted around USD 200–500/month; a mid-tier comprehensive plan midpoint ≈ USD 300/month ≈ USD 3,600/year. Premiums are quoted on request (age/coverage/evacuation dependent), so this is a curated market midpoint, not a public engine quote. Local BPJS Kesehatan (mandatory public scheme for KITAS holders) is far cheaper but not a comprehensive private-cover equivalent.
$3,600/yr
2026curated
Crypto
i
Official source
- Data as of
- Aug 1, 2025
- Verified
- Jul 4, 2026
- Notes
- Crypto is legal to hold and trade as a regulated digital financial asset (supervision moved from Bappebti to OJK on 2025-01-10 under PP 49/2024; framework in POJK 27/2024 + POJK 23/2025), but is prohibited as a means of payment (only the rupiah is legal tender). Taxed: a final PPh of 0.21% on sales via domestic licensed platforms and 1% via foreign platforms (PMK 50/2025, effective 2025-08-01); VAT on the asset transfer itself was removed. Regulated, not exemption-friendly → 'legal-regulated'.
Legal regulated
2025official
What it costs you per month
A planning estimate: real asking rent plus a cost-of-living basket scaled to your household. Not a quote.
Household
Lifestyle
Location
Estimated total
$1,110/mo
≈ $13,320 / year
Where it goes
- Rent (1-bed)$410
- Food & groceries$220
- Restaurants & eating out$120
- Transport (ride-hailing + public)$90
- Recreation & culture$90
- Utilities (electricity, water, gas)$70
- Household & personal goods$70
- Mobile + home internet$40
- Living costs$700
Rent from the asking-rent matrix below. Living costs scale a one-person basket ($700/mo) by household size and lifestyle; the equivalence factors are our assumption. Schooling and one-off setup are excluded.
Cost of living
What a single person spends each month — food, utilities, transport, eating out and the rest — excluding rent.
| Criterion | Value | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Cost of living (single, excl. rent) | 700USD/month, single person, excluding rentiCurated by SettleMetric
| 9.0 |
i
BPS Household consumption composition (Maret 2024), curated into a single urban-resident basket
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Mar 31, 2024
- Verified
- Jul 4, 2026
- Method
- Category split follows the BPS food/non-food consumption structure, sized to the ~USD 700/mo single-person non-rent aggregate for an urban (Jakarta-level) resident. Illustrative allocation, not an official line-item table — see the NEEDS MANUAL REVIEW note on cost-of-living-single.
Food & groceries220 USD
Restaurants & eating out120 USD
Transport (ride-hailing + public)90 USD
Recreation & culture90 USD
Utilities (electricity, water, gas)70 USD
Household & personal goods70 USD
Mobile + home internet40 USD
Indonesia's single-person household-budget basket, excluding rent.
Housing
What it costs to rent, by apartment type and location.
i
SettleMetric — population-weighted average of covered cities (Bali, Jakarta)
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Jun 30, 2026
- Verified
- Jul 4, 2026
- Method
- Population-weighted mean of the rent-breakdown matrices of Bali, Jakarta; each cell averages the cities that report it. See each city page for its exact local matrix.
| Apartment | Central | Outside centre |
|---|---|---|
| Studio | 644 USD/mo | 245 USD/mo |
| 1-bedroom | 883 USD/mo | 410 USD/mo |
| 2-bedroom | 1,351 USD/mo | 656 USD/mo |
| 3-bedroom | 1,794 USD/mo | 872 USD/mo |
Safety
How safe daily life is, from official crime statistics.
| Criterion | Value | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Homicide rate | 0.3intentional homicides per 100,000/yeariUNODC via World Bank (Intentional homicides per 100,000 people, Indonesia) Open data
| 10.0 |
Healthcare
What comprehensive private medical cover costs.
| Criterion | Value | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Private healthcare cost | 3,600USD/year, comprehensive private insurance premium, healthy 35-year-oldiCurated by SettleMetric
| 3.9 |
Money & crypto
Crypto rules and how freely personal money moves.
| Criterion | Value | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Crypto regulation | Legal regulatediOfficial source
| 8.0 |
| Financial control level | ModerateiBank Indonesia foreign-exchange regulations + DJP crypto/reporting rules (composite) Curated by SettleMetric
| 7.0 |
Infrastructure
Internet speed and how parcels get to your door.
| Criterion | Value | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Domestic delivery quality | GoodiCurated by SettleMetric
| 7.0 |
| International delivery ease | Significant frictioniIndonesian Customs (Bea Cukai) / Ministry of Finance — de-minimis lowered to USD 3 FOB (PMK 4/2025) Official source
| 4.0 |
| Internet speed | 9.5Mbps, median fixed downloadiM-Lab NDT country aggregates for Indonesia (2023) Open data
| 0.0 |
Language
How far English gets you in daily life and services.
| Criterion | Value | Score |
|---|---|---|
| English proficiency | LowiEF EPI 2025 — Indonesia rank 80/123, score 471 (Low Proficiency band) Research
| 2.0 |
Your tax options
Full schemes, examples & calculator- PPh Final UMKM 0.5% — small-business final tax on gross turnover (PP 55/2022, made permanent for individuals by PP 20/2026)progressive on revenue (allowance 500,000,000): 1% above0.3% burden at €60k
- NPPN — deemed-profit norm for freelancers (pekerjaan bebas) + progressive PPh50% of revenue + progressive on profit (allowance 54,000,000): 5% up to 60,000,000, 15% up to 250,000,000, 25% up to 500,000,000, 30% up to 5,000,000,000, 35% above9.1% burden at €60k
- Standard progressive PPh on actual net profit (bookkeeping)progressive on profit (allowance 54,000,000): 5% up to 60,000,000, 15% up to 250,000,000, 25% up to 500,000,000, 30% up to 5,000,000,000, 35% above24.1% burden at €60k
See what you would keep
Your income against Indonesia's real tax schemes — the same engine as the full calculator.
- 1 PPh Final UMKM 0.5% — small-business final tax on gross turnover (PP 55/2022, made permanent for individuals by PP 20/2026)59,822 EURnet/year0.3% burden
- 2 NPPN — deemed-profit norm for freelancers (pekerjaan bebas) + progressive PPh54,515 EURnet/year9.1% burden
- 3 Standard progressive PPh on actual net profit (bookkeeping)45,515 EURnet/year24.1% burden
Your legalization options
Requirements, fees & citizenship filter- E33G Remote Worker KITAS (digital nomad / remote-work stay permit)Digital nomad visaAll citizenshipsincome ≥ 60,000 USD/yearEmployment contract with a company established outside Indonesia (self-employed / sole traders do NOT qualify)1 yr +
- E33 Second Home Visa / KITAS (proof-of-funds long stay)Special programAll citizenshipsincome ≥ 130,000 USD/yearProof of funds: USD 130,000 (or equivalent, formerly stated as Rp 2,000,000,000) deposit in a state-owned Indonesian bank in the applicant's name, OR ownership of qualifying Indonesian property5 yrs +
- E33E Second Home KITAS — retirement variant (age 55+)Special programAll citizenshipsincome ≥ 3,000 USD/monthForeign national aged 55 or older5 yrs +
- E28A Investor KITAS (own-company / PT PMA route)Business visaAll citizenshipsPersonal shareholding of at least IDR 10,000,000,000 in an Indonesian PT PMA, held directly in the applicant's own name (no nominee)2 yrs +→ PR path
- B1 Visa on Arrival (e-VOA) — short tourist/business stayVisa-free stayAll citizenshipsPassport of an eligible country (about 97 nationalities, incl. US, UK, EU, Australia, Japan, ASEAN)1 mo +
- C1 Tourist Visa (single-entry visit visa)Visa-free stayAll citizenshipsFor nationalities not eligible for Visa on Arrival, or those wanting a pre-arranged single-entry visit visa2 mo +
Who is Indonesia for?
The same place reads differently depending on why you move. Each lens pulls the facts that matter most for that plan — with sources, and the trade-offs stated plainly.
Contract or freelance in tech, billing clients abroad.
Works in your favour
Freelancer tax burden9.1%
i
SettleMetric tax engine over official DJP rules (pajak.go.id: NPPN + PPh Pasal 17 + PTKP)
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Jan 1, 2026
- Verified
- Jul 4, 2026
- Method
- Best cleanly-eligible scheme id-nppn-freelancer at €60,000 = 1,232,521,200 IDR (ECB 20,542.02 IDR/EUR). NPPN professional-services norm 50% → net income 616,260,600; minus PTKP TK/0 54,000,000 → PKP 562,260,600; progressive PPh (5/15/25/30%) = 112,678,180 IDR → 9.14% ≈ 9.1%. The 0.5% MSME final tax would give ~0.3% but its 7-year window and professional-services exclusion make it unreliable for a newly-registered foreign IT freelancer, so NPPN is the recorded best. Single filer; NPPN KLU-62 norm pending manual confirmation (50% vs 62.5% — see scheme notes).
Cost of living (single, excl. rent)$700/mo
i
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Mar 31, 2024
- Verified
- Jul 4, 2026
- Method
- BPS March-2024 average per-capita monthly expenditure is Rp 1,500,556 nationally (urban Rp 1,737,427), split food/non-food — but that is a rural-weighted per-capita floor far below a foreign remote worker's outlay. Curated single-person, non-rent urban (Jakarta-level) basket — groceries, eating out, transport/ride-hailing, utilities, mobile+home internet, modest leisure — sits around USD 650–750/month; recorded midpoint USD 700. NEEDS MANUAL REVIEW: this is a modelled basket anchored on BPS composition, not a single official basket figure; refine with itemised BPS urban non-food lines and current retail prices next cycle.
Domestic delivery qualityGood
i
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Jul 4, 2026
- Verified
- Jul 4, 2026
- Method
- Dense, competitive parcel market: Pos Indonesia (national operator) plus JNE, J&T Express, SiCepat, Ninja Xpress and on-demand couriers (GoSend, GrabExpress) give 1–3 day delivery in Java and major cities and same-day intra-city; tracking is standard. Reach to remote islands is slower and address quality is uneven, so 'good' rather than 'excellent'. Parcel-locker networks are limited vs Europe.
Watch-outs
Internet speed10 Mbps
i
M-Lab NDT country aggregates for Indonesia (2023)
Open data
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2023
- Verified
- Jul 4, 2026
- Method
- Median download ≈ 9.3–9.8 Mbps across the 2023 daily country medians (~4.3M tests) from M-Lab's public NDT statistics API; recorded midpoint 9.5 Mbps. 2024/2026 aggregate files were not retrievable at the time of check.
- Notes
- M-Lab NDT is single-stream and reads far below Ookla-style figures (Ookla put Indonesia fixed broadband ~28–41 Mbps in 2024–2025) — comparable only within this criterion, never mixed with Ookla.
English proficiencyLow
i
EF EPI 2025 — Indonesia rank 80/123, score 471 (Low Proficiency band)
Research
- Data as of
- Nov 1, 2025
- Verified
- Jul 4, 2026
- Notes
- Own band informed by EF EPI 2025 (attribution: EF Education First): Indonesia scores 471 (Low band) nationally, though Jakarta scores 523 (Moderate). Bahasa Indonesia is the sole official language; English is workable in tourist/expat zones (Bali, South Jakarta) and among younger professionals, but limited in government offices and everyday services nationwide → 'low'.
Relocating with a partner and school-age children.
Works in your favour
Homicide rate0.3/100k
i
UNODC via World Bank (Intentional homicides per 100,000 people, Indonesia)
Open data
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2022
- Verified
- Jul 4, 2026
- Notes
- Latest available UNODC-sourced value is 0.30 per 100,000 for 2022 (World Bank series VC.IHR.PSRC.P5, sourced from the UNODC Data Portal). Indonesia's recorded intentional-homicide rate is very low by global standards; reporting has gaps between years.
Watch-outs
Private healthcare cost$3,600/yr
i
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Jul 4, 2026
- Verified
- Jul 4, 2026
- Method
- Comprehensive (outpatient + inpatient, ~USD 1m+ annual limit, small deductible) international/IPMI plans for a healthy 35-year-old resident foreigner in Indonesia are commonly quoted around USD 200–500/month; a mid-tier comprehensive plan midpoint ≈ USD 300/month ≈ USD 3,600/year. Premiums are quoted on request (age/coverage/evacuation dependent), so this is a curated market midpoint, not a public engine quote. Local BPJS Kesehatan (mandatory public scheme for KITAS holders) is far cheaper but not a comprehensive private-cover equivalent.
English proficiencyLow
i
EF EPI 2025 — Indonesia rank 80/123, score 471 (Low Proficiency band)
Research
- Data as of
- Nov 1, 2025
- Verified
- Jul 4, 2026
- Notes
- Own band informed by EF EPI 2025 (attribution: EF Education First): Indonesia scores 471 (Low band) nationally, though Jakarta scores 523 (Moderate). Bahasa Indonesia is the sole official language; English is workable in tourist/expat zones (Bali, South Jakarta) and among younger professionals, but limited in government offices and everyday services nationwide → 'low'.
Optimising tax, banking and crypto rules.
Works in your favour
Crypto regulationLegal regulated
i
Official source
- Data as of
- Aug 1, 2025
- Verified
- Jul 4, 2026
- Notes
- Crypto is legal to hold and trade as a regulated digital financial asset (supervision moved from Bappebti to OJK on 2025-01-10 under PP 49/2024; framework in POJK 27/2024 + POJK 23/2025), but is prohibited as a means of payment (only the rupiah is legal tender). Taxed: a final PPh of 0.21% on sales via domestic licensed platforms and 1% via foreign platforms (PMK 50/2025, effective 2025-08-01); VAT on the asset transfer itself was removed. Regulated, not exemption-friendly → 'legal-regulated'.
Financial control levelModerate
i
Bank Indonesia foreign-exchange regulations + DJP crypto/reporting rules (composite)
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Jul 4, 2026
- Verified
- Jul 4, 2026
- Method
- Composite: the rupiah is largely convertible and there are no hard capital controls on inbound/outbound personal transfers, but Bank Indonesia requires reporting/underlying-document evidence for FX purchases above a threshold (historically USD 25,000/month per customer without underlying documents), restricts rupiah use offshore, and mandates rupiah for domestic settlement; residents are taxed on worldwide income once tax-resident; foreigners can open local bank accounts but generally need a KITAS/KITAP and NPWP. More friction than a low-control hub, well short of strict capital controls → 'moderate'. NEEDS MANUAL REVIEW: the current exact FX-without-documents threshold should be re-verified against a live Bank Indonesia regulation page (fetch was JS-walled).
Freelancer tax burden9.1%
i
SettleMetric tax engine over official DJP rules (pajak.go.id: NPPN + PPh Pasal 17 + PTKP)
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Jan 1, 2026
- Verified
- Jul 4, 2026
- Method
- Best cleanly-eligible scheme id-nppn-freelancer at €60,000 = 1,232,521,200 IDR (ECB 20,542.02 IDR/EUR). NPPN professional-services norm 50% → net income 616,260,600; minus PTKP TK/0 54,000,000 → PKP 562,260,600; progressive PPh (5/15/25/30%) = 112,678,180 IDR → 9.14% ≈ 9.1%. The 0.5% MSME final tax would give ~0.3% but its 7-year window and professional-services exclusion make it unreliable for a newly-registered foreign IT freelancer, so NPPN is the recorded best. Single filer; NPPN KLU-62 norm pending manual confirmation (50% vs 62.5% — see scheme notes).
Prioritising safety, air, and an easy daily life.
Works in your favour
Homicide rate0.3/100k
i
UNODC via World Bank (Intentional homicides per 100,000 people, Indonesia)
Open data
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2022
- Verified
- Jul 4, 2026
- Notes
- Latest available UNODC-sourced value is 0.30 per 100,000 for 2022 (World Bank series VC.IHR.PSRC.P5, sourced from the UNODC Data Portal). Indonesia's recorded intentional-homicide rate is very low by global standards; reporting has gaps between years.
Cost of living (single, excl. rent)$700/mo
i
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Mar 31, 2024
- Verified
- Jul 4, 2026
- Method
- BPS March-2024 average per-capita monthly expenditure is Rp 1,500,556 nationally (urban Rp 1,737,427), split food/non-food — but that is a rural-weighted per-capita floor far below a foreign remote worker's outlay. Curated single-person, non-rent urban (Jakarta-level) basket — groceries, eating out, transport/ride-hailing, utilities, mobile+home internet, modest leisure — sits around USD 650–750/month; recorded midpoint USD 700. NEEDS MANUAL REVIEW: this is a modelled basket anchored on BPS composition, not a single official basket figure; refine with itemised BPS urban non-food lines and current retail prices next cycle.
Domestic delivery qualityGood
i
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Jul 4, 2026
- Verified
- Jul 4, 2026
- Method
- Dense, competitive parcel market: Pos Indonesia (national operator) plus JNE, J&T Express, SiCepat, Ninja Xpress and on-demand couriers (GoSend, GrabExpress) give 1–3 day delivery in Java and major cities and same-day intra-city; tracking is standard. Reach to remote islands is slower and address quality is uneven, so 'good' rather than 'excellent'. Parcel-locker networks are limited vs Europe.