Why Indonesia matters

Indonesia is back on the map. In the next decade it will only become more important

A quarter of a century on, Indonesia matters once again. It is the world’s largest Muslim-majority state, its third-biggest democracy and its fourth-most-populous country. With 276m people spread across thousands of islands that stretch from the Indian Ocean to the Pacific, it is caught up in the strategic contest betweenAmerica and China. And like India and other emerging markets, it is adapting to a new world order in which globalisation and Western supremacy are in retreat.

 
Over the next quarter-century, the country’s clout could increase spectacularly. The economy is one reason.Indonesia is the sixth-biggest emerging market by gdp, and in the past decade has grown faster than any other $1trn-plus economy bar China and India. A source of dynamism is digital services, which are helping create a more integrated consumer market, with over 100m people collectively spending $80bn a year on everything from e-payments to apps for on-demand trucking.

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