Indonesia is a country in Southeast Asia. It has the largest Muslim population in the world and is the 4th most populous country in the world. Its capital is Jakarta. Having its global rank at 18th in terms of economy, respectively 15th in terms of purchasing parity, thus becoming a slowly progressive country. In this essay, I will talk about how changes in Indonesia's demographic characteristics over the past 10 years can affect its economy in terms of unemployment, GDP (gross domestic product), and poverty. Unemployment is an economic situation marked by the fact that individuals seek employment but remain unemployed. A country's GDP is the total market value of all final goods and services produced in a country. Poverty is when people's income is lower than the GNP (gross national product) per capita of a country where means of subsistence are scarce. Population growth is the change in population over a period of time. This happens due to a number of factors such as standard of living, cultural factors and government policies. When the standard of living improves, through improved social conditions (shelter, sanitation, clean water, health care, etc.), the death rate and birth rate decline as more and more of people are inclined to have fewer children. As living standards increase, there will be more immigrants and therefore an increase in population. Government policies that encourage people to have fewer or more children also have a significant effect on birth rates. Indonesia's population growth has been decreasing at a steady rate since 2000 until 2010. As its population growth rate decreases, its labor force is also decreasing and, therefore, there will be more employment opportunities for people. As an employment opportunity... middle of paper ...... it would also mean an increase in poverty, and an increase in poverty would reduce GDP growth. To avoid this, the government should reduce taxes to attract multinational companies to Indonesia and thus reduce unemployment. By taking the mentioned measures, Indonesia can greatly improve its economy. Works Cited “Bolivia – Population growth rate – Historical data graphs by year”. Index Mundi – Facts about the country. Internet. August 7, 2011. .WebsiteTagsEditDelete “North Carolina Infant Mortality Statistics.” NC Healthy Start Foundation – Educate. Provide. Leading. Internet. August 7, 2011. .WebsiteTagsEditDelete "Society1talk | Society must speak!" Society must speak! | Blog for the Society. Internet. August 7. 2011. .