Province

South Papua

Overview Economy

Papua – South Papua

Situated on Papua Island, South Papua is a newly established province in Indonesia. Its establishment was administered under Law No. 14/2022, signed by President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo on July 25, 2022. Through this law, the province of Papua underwent an administrative division, resulting in the formation of South Papua province.

Encompassing the southernmost portion of Papua, the province shares its land borders with Papua province to the north and the independent nation of Papua New Guinea to the east. To the south, it is bounded by the Arafura Sea, and to the west, by the Aru Sea.

Up to 120,279 square kilometers of landmass covers South Papua, which is also home to 553,910 individuals. Additionally, the province is divided into four districts, namely the Mappi district, Asmat district, Boven Digoel district, and Mappi district, which also serves as the province’s capital city.

In South Papua, Christianity is the dominant religion, according to 2023 data from the Directorate General of Population and Civil Registration Office. It represents 72.57 percent of the population, with Catholicism being the most prevalent Christian denomination at 49.62 percent, followed by Protestantism at 22.95 percent. Other religions, including Islam, were recorded at 27.28 percent, Hinduism at 0.11 percent, and Buddhism at 0.04 percent, making up a smaller portion of the province’s religious landscape.

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Economic Description

Despite being a recent addition to Indonesia's provinces, South Papua's economy is maintaining a steady pace. In 2022, the province’s Gross Regional Domestic Product (GRDP) reached Rp 28.6 trillion, with the construction sector serving as the province’s leading sector with a significant contribution of Rp 6.9 trillion. It is closely followed by the agriculture, forestry, and fisheries sector at Rp 6.1 trillion, and the wholesale and retail trade sector, including cars and motorcycles reparation, at Rp 3.5 trillion.

The construction sector’s leading role in South Papua extends from thriving construction activity across Papua Island. Subsequently, given the province’s recent establishment, the construction of essential infrastructure fuels activity across various sub-sectors, positioning construction as the backbone of South Papua’s ongoing economic development.

Furthermore, the agriculture, forestry, and fisheries sector is the second leading sector in South Papua. Within this sector, the largest sub-sector is farming and livestock, contributing nearly Rp 2.8 trillion. Fisheries closely follow with Rp 2.7 trillion, along with forestry at Rp 605 billion.

Lastly, the wholesale and retail trade sector has emerged as the third leading contributor to South Papua’s economic well-being. This sector experienced a significant growth rate of 8.76 percent in 2023, showcasing its potential to become an even more vital driver of economic activity in the province in the future.

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Latest News

January 27, 2026

The Akimeugah I and II working areas (WKs) have been offered three times by the government through an open tender mechanism. However, to date, no contractor has been selected as the winner. Most recently, the Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM) Ministry opened the third round of the 2025 tender for the Akimeugah I and II WKs in December 2025.

Senior oil and gas industry practitioner Hadi Ismoyo believes the two oil and gas blocks possess relatively large oil and gas reserves. However, he explained that the extreme terrain and overlap with the Lorentz National Park area make development of the Akimeugah I and Akimeugah II WKs difficult.

"Several exploration wells from previous operators have indicated the presence of hydrocarbons," Hadi stated on Dec. 29, 2025.

"Additionally, ExxonMobil has successfully exploited gas with extraordinary reserves in Papua New Guinea (PNG), east of the Indonesia-PNG border, with a current capacity of up to 12 MTPA (million tonnes per annum) of LNG (liquefied natural gas)," he continued.

Hadi believes that the Akimeugah I and Akimeugah II have the potential to produce reserves relatively similar to those found in Papua New Guinea. However, he said there is still no clarity regarding the overlapping status of some of the working areas with Lorentz National Park.

The Akimeugah I block is located in the onshore areas of South Papua and Highland Papua provinces, covering an area of ​​10,791.21 square kilometers (km²). This block has substantial resource potential estimated at 15 billion barrels of oil equivalent (boe). Meanwhile, the Akimeugah II block is located in the same region, covering an area of ​​12,987.68 km². Its potential is also projected to reach 15 billion boe.

Hadi is convinced that investors are still awaiting legal and regulatory certainty regarding the boundaries of areas that can be converted into limited oil and gas WKs in the concession. He encouraged PT Pertamina to form a consortium to work on the Akimeugah I and II WKs. He believes the state-owned enterprise has the capability to develop these challenging blocks.

The contracts for both Akimeugah I and II are offered under both the cost recovery and gross split schemes. For cost recovery, the revenue sharing is set at 50:50 for oil and gas, whilethe base split is 53:47 for oil and 51:49 for gas under the gross split scheme. The firm work commitments for each of the oil and gas blocks include geological and geophysical (G&G) activites, two- and three-dimensional (2D/3D) seismic acquisition and processing, or exploration well drilling within the first three years. A signature bonus is determined through an open bid with a minimum value of US$200,000 for each of the oil and gas block.

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