DIGIVESTASI - The proportion of middle-class spending on taxes and levies has consistently increased over the past five years. In fact, the contribution of the middle class in this regard is now on par with the upper class in 2024.

Data from the Central Bureau of Statistics (BPS) shows that the upper class allocates 4.84% of their total monthly expenditures to taxes and levies, while the middle class allocates 4.53%.

For the group aspiring to join the middle class, their spending proportion is recorded at 3.59%. The vulnerable poor group allocates 3.84%, while the poor group allocates 3.58% of their total monthly expenditures.

Ateng Hartono, Deputy for Social Statistics at BPS, explained that this data was obtained from the 2024 National Socioeconomic Survey (Susenas).

"The taxes surveyed in Susenas include property tax (PBB), motor vehicle tax (STNK), insurance, and levies such as neighborhood fees (RT/RW), waste collection, security, burial fees, and others," Ateng explained to CNBC Indonesia on Friday (August 30, 2024).

As additional information, the spending patterns of the middle class have undergone significant changes over the past 10 years, particularly from 2014 to 2024. Spending on entertainment and celebrations has increased sharply, while spending on food has decreased during this period.

Acting Head of BPS, Amalia Adininggar Widyasanti, noted that spending on food and beverages remains the largest expenditure for the middle class, accounting for 41.67% in 2024, although it has decreased from 45.53% in 2014.

"A decade ago, 45.53% of middle-class spending was allocated to food and beverages, but now it’s only 41.67%," Amalia said during a working meeting with Commission XI of the House of Representatives in Jakarta on Wednesday (August 28, 2024).

The second-largest expenditure is on housing, which accounted for only 28.52% in 2024, down from 32.87% in 2014. Similar trends were observed in spending on education, which decreased from 4.32% in 2014 to 3.66% in 2024, and healthcare spending, which dropped to 2.86% in 2024 from 3.27% in 2014.

Conversely, spending on taxes and levies saw a sharp increase from 1.62% in 2014 to 4.53% in 2024. Spending on durable goods also increased from 1.72% to 2.29%.

Spending on vehicles rose from 2.97% in 2014 to 3.99% in 2024, while spending on clothing increased from 2.18% in 2014 to 2.44%. Spending on durable goods also rose from 1.72% to 2.29%.

Spending on entertainment also saw an increase from 0.22% in 2014 to 0.38% in 2024. Similarly, spending on celebrations jumped from 0.75% in 2014 to 3.18% in 2024.

Amalia explained that this classification is based on World Bank standards outlined in the document *Aspiring Indonesia: Expanding the Middle Class 2019*. This classification refers to spending calculated based on the poverty line of IDR 582,932 per capita.

The middle class has expenditures 3.5-17 times the poverty line, or around IDR 2.04 million to IDR 9.90 million per capita per month. The aspiring middle class group has expenditures 1.5-3.5 times the poverty line, or around IDR 874,39 thousand to IDR 2.04 million. The vulnerable poor group has expenditures 1-1.5 times the poverty line, between IDR 582.93 thousand and IDR 874.39 thousand.

Meanwhile, the poor group has expenditures below the poverty line, which is under IDR 582.93 thousand per capita per month. The upper class, on the other hand, has expenditures 17 times higher than the poverty line, which is above IDR 9.90 million per capita per month.