Digital Natives, Creative Nation: The Role of Millennials, Gen Z, and Alpha as New Engines of Indonesia's Creative Economy

by Arief Budiman

The World No Longer Asks: What Do You Have? The World Asks: What Can You Create?

Not Just a Demographic Bonus — This Is Indonesia’s Creativity Boom Era

Indonesia is at the peak of its demographic momentum:

• 190 million people of productive age (15–64), or 69.3% of the total population.
• More than half of them are digital natives—a generation that grew up with the internet, social media, and smartphones in their hands from an early age.

This is not merely an age advantage. They carry a new mindset: more creative, more connected, more global. And when empowered properly, they become a machine for creating new value for the national economy.

Creative Economy: A Giant We've Long Ignored

“IDR 1,300 Trillion. 23 Million Jobs. Top 3 in the World.”

• Contribution to GDP in 2023: IDR 1,300 trillion
• Employs 23 million workers
• Ranked among the Top 3 Creative Economies in the World (with the US & South Korea!)
• Digital sectors—gaming, animation, apps—are the fastest-growing engines

For too long, we treated creativity as a hobby, when in fact it is a massive economic engine.

Digital Natives, Trend Makers

Indonesia has 212 million internet users—78% of the population active on social media. But more importantly, young Indonesians are:

🎙️ Becoming content creators, podcasters, streamers
🎮 Developing games and educational apps
🎧 Releasing music on global platforms
🧵 Building local, community-based brands

They don’t just consume trends—they create and monetize them. Today’s young generation is the core engine of the creative economy, equipped with three strengths:

1. Digital-native (fast tech adaptation)
2. Global mindset (open and collaborative across nations)
3. Value-oriented (focused on social impact)

Indonesia vs Singapore: Two Approaches to the Creative Economy

Singapore → strong in systems, efficiency, and directed investment.

• Creative economy investment: > SGD 100 million since 2020
• Creative economy contribution: 6.5% of GDP
• Focus areas: design, animation, creative tech
   

Indonesia → strong in market scale and cultural richness.

• Population: 280+ million
• Active e-commerce users: 170 million
• 38 provinces = unmatched creative diversity
• Lower production costs

Singapore excels in system & structure, Indonesia excels in creativity & diversity.

A Creative Ecosystem Taking Shape

Government:

• Bekraf Go Digital
• Indonesian Creative District Program
• LPDB-KUMKM financing for creative MSMEs
   

Academia:

• Creative hubs, innovation labs, campus incubators
   

Private Sector:

• Startup accelerators by Telkomsel, GoTo, Tokopedia, and others

Rise of Indonesia’s Creative Generation

• Indonesia’s digital creative economy is growing faster than the global average:
  Gaming +11%, Streaming +9%, Music +8% (PwC, 2024)
• Jakarta ranks in the Top 40 global creative startup ecosystems
• Challenges remain: funding access, weak IP protection, low business literacy (UNESCO, 2023)

💡 The creative economy is not just a sector — it is the new identity of a nation shaped by young creators of culture, not merely its inheritors.

Read More in Warta ISEI Issue 5