Nighttime Light (NTL) as a Proxy for Indonesia’s Service Sector and Tourism: Building the Nexus of Eventonomics

Indonesia’s services economy is already the main engine, contributing about 43.8 percent of GDP in 2024 and supporting around 71.6 million jobs in 2023, so policymakers need faster and more spatially precise signals than GDP and annual surveys to see where service and tourism growth is actually happening and where pressures are building.

Nighttime Light satellite data provides that signal because it tracks the intensity and location of activity in real time and it clearly differentiates regional growth patterns, showing Jakarta as a polycentric service and MICE logistics hub that needs mobility and infrastructure upgrades, Bali as a highly concentrated tourism economy that needs diversification and tighter land use management, and Yogyakarta as a cultural and creative quality tourism model that needs connectivity plus heritage and environmental protection.