Country research
Indonesia
Prices overall are about 0.29 of United States prices at market exchange rates, and EF ranks English proficiency 80th of 123 (2025: 471). Remote workers employed by a company abroad can apply for the one-year E33G Remote Worker visa, which asks for proof of income of at least US$60,000 a year. [C1] [F1] [K1]
The Fernshore Index
How it grades, factor by factor.
Each grade is against a published measure, with its source and the date we checked it. It is research information, not advice. Where we have no figure, the row says Unknown.
Cost of living
96 of 100Strong
Price level 0.287 of United States prices (2025).
Source: Price level index (GDP), Indonesia. Checked 15 October 2026.
Climate
16 of 100Weak
Bali's south coast (Ngurah Rai airport station), the place the research leads with: 3 comfortable months a year (June, July and August). Jakarta would score 0.
Source: Daily maximum temperature 1991–2020, Denpasar Ngurah Rai airport (WMO 97230); Monthly normals, Denpasar/Ngurah Rai (WMO 97230). Checked 15 October 2026.
Safety
47 of 100Mixed
Global Peace Index 2026: 69th of 163.
Source: Global Peace Index 2026, overall rank. Checked 15 October 2026.
Healthcare
27 of 100Weak
WHO UHC service coverage index 67 (2023).
Source: UHC service coverage index (SDG 3.8.1). Checked 15 October 2026.
Schools
Unknown
Our research doesn't cover schools yet.
Community
Unknown
Not covered by Expat Insider 2026
Lifestyle
Unknown
Not covered by Expat Insider 2026
Work and career
50 of 100Mixed
Mixed: a residence route for remote workers exists (the E33G Remote Worker visa, for employees of a company abroad), but fixed broadband is 4.9 per 100 people (2024), under the 30 line.
Source: E33G Remote Worker Special Residency Visa (Indonesian-language page); Indonesian visa list; Fixed broadband subscriptions per 100 people, Indonesia. Checked 15 October 2026.
Retirement
50 of 100Mixed
Mixed: the E33E Retiree visa (5 years, up to 10 in total) is for people aged 55 and over, with about US$50,000 deposit and income of about US$3,000 a month; the page names no path to permanent residence. To be safe, have more than US$51,000.
Source: E33E 5-Year Retiree Special Residency Visa; E33F 1-Year Retiree Special Residency Visa (Indonesian-language page). Checked 15 October 2026.
Internet
10 of 100Weak
4.92 fixed broadband subscriptions per 100 people (2024).
Source: Fixed broadband subscriptions per 100 people, Indonesia. Checked 15 October 2026.
English
14 of 100Weak
EF EPI 2025 score 471, rank 80 of 123, under the 499 weak line, so the score is 14.
Source: EF English Proficiency Index 2025: Indonesia. Checked 15 October 2026.
Visa, United States passport
Unknown
Research for United States passports is being checked
Visa, Canada passport
Unknown
Research for Canada passports is being checked
Visa, Australia passport
Unknown
Research for Australia passports is being checked
Visa, New Zealand passport
Unknown
Research for New Zealand passports is being checked
Topics
The detail on Indonesia.
Guides
Indonesia, by passport.
Each guide is written for citizens of one country.
Questions about Indonesia.
Do I need a visa to visit Indonesia on a US, Canadian, Australian or New Zealand passport?
Probably, but it can be a visa on arrival. Indonesia's immigration directorate lists all four passports for visa on arrival and none for free visits. The B1 costs IDR 500,000 for up to 30 days and extends once by 30 days. You can apply online first (e-VoA). Rules change, so check before you book.
Is there a remote work, retirement or second-home visa in Indonesia?
Yes, on the official visa list: the E33G for people employed by a company abroad (one year), the E33E and E33F retiree visas, and the E33 second-home visa (5 or 10 years). Each has its own income, deposit or sponsor test; the visas page has the figures.
How do prices in Indonesia compare with the United States?
Prices overall in Indonesia are about 0.29 of United States prices at market exchange rates (World Bank price level index, 2025). That is an economy-wide average, not a budget for one household, and it does not show what rent, food or any single item costs.
How hot and rainy is Indonesia?
It depends on where. Bali's south coast (Ngurah Rai airport, 1991-2020) has average daily highs of 29.2 to 31.7 °C, and rain averages 350.7 mm in January but 27.6 mm in July. Jakarta's average highs run from 30.8 to 33.4 °C across the year.
How much English will I find in Indonesia?
The EF English Proficiency Index 2025 scores Indonesia 471, 80th of 123 countries and regions. The index comes from people who chose to take EF's online test, so it does not show how much English is used in a given city, workplace or neighbourhood.
How safe is Indonesia, and what is healthcare like?
The Global Peace Index 2026 ranks Indonesia 69th of 163, a national score; WHO's service coverage index is 67 of 100 (2023). Canada says to take a high degree of caution, calls health care inadequate, and says scooter accidents are the main cause of death and serious injury among visiting foreigners in many areas.
Sources
Where each figure comes from.
Every figure on this page links to the page we read, with the date we checked it.
- [C1] Price level index (GDP), Indonesia, World Bank. Checked 15 October 2026. 2025: 28.65 (United States = 100), read from the World Bank API on 15 October 2026.
- [F1] EF English Proficiency Index 2025: Indonesia, EF Education First (private test-taker index). Checked 15 October 2026. Score 471, rank 80 of 123 countries and regions; the 2026 edition was not yet published on 15 October 2026.
- [K1] E33G Remote Worker Special Residency Visa (Indonesian-language page), Directorate General of Immigration, Indonesia. Checked 15 October 2026. Page read in Indonesian on 15 October 2026 (the English page says 'Data Not Yet Available'). A limited stay visa for working for a foreign company: stay of 1 year, extendable online; no sponsor needed; bank statements for the last 3 months of at least US$2,000; special requirement of bank evidence of salary or income of at least US$60,000 a year and an employment agreement with a company established outside Indonesia. No age minimum and no deposit are stated.
- [G3] Jakarta population recorded at 11.01 million, Jakarta provincial government (Berita Jakarta news site), reporting the Jakarta Dukcapil agency. Checked 15 October 2026. Published 15 December 2025: 11,010,514 registered residents in the first half of 2025 (Ministry of Home Affairs clean population data, DKB). Supports the 'city' setting (500,000 people or more).
- [G5] Rural population (% of total population), World Bank, World Development Indicators. Checked 15 October 2026. 2025: 40.6% of the population is rural (national definitions).
- [G6] Agricultural land (% of land area), World Bank, World Development Indicators. Checked 15 October 2026. 2024: 28.9% of land area.
- [G7] The World Factbook: Indonesia (Geography; People and Society), Central Intelligence Agency (text read from the factbook.json mirror on GitHub; cia.gov refused automated access). Checked 15 October 2026. Coastline 54,716 km; highest point Puncak Jaya 4,884 m; terrain mostly coastal lowlands with interior mountains on the larger islands; urban areas (2023): Jakarta 11.249 million, Bekasi 3.729 million, Surabaya 3.044 million, Depok 3.041 million, Bandung 2.674 million, Tangerang 2.514 million. The mirror's text was not checked against cia.gov.
- [G8] Jumlah penduduk tahun 2023 semester 2 menurut jenis kelamin dan desa/kelurahan (population, second half of 2023, by village or kelurahan), Denpasar city government, Portal Satu Data Denpasar (civil-registration data). Checked 15 October 2026. Sanur's three kelurahan (Sanur 9,660, Sanur Kaja 7,829, Sanur Kauh 11,712) have 29,201 registered residents, a small town by size; supports the 'small_town' setting.
- [W1] Daily maximum temperature 1991–2020, Denpasar Ngurah Rai airport (WMO 97230), BMKG (Indonesian Meteorological, Climatological and Geophysical Agency) observations, distributed by NOAA NCEI in the Global Historical Climatology Network–Daily (station IDM00097230); monthly means computed by Fernshore. Checked 15 October 2026. Bali's south coast is the main place for Indonesia's climate grade (Bali first). Mean of the daily maximum temperature in each month, from 7,358 daily readings made between 1991 and 2020 (about 600 readings per calendar month): January 30.9, February 31.1, March 31.2, April 31.3, May 30.6, June 29.8, July 29.2, August 29.2, September 30.1, October 31.1, November 31.7, December 31.1 °C. The WMO Climate Normals 1991–2020 file that NOAA holds for this station (97230) has no maximum temperature or rainfall, so the normals were computed from the daily record. A secondary copy of the WMO normals on Wikipedia gives 30.0 °C for September, which would make September a fourth comfortable month; the computed 30.1 does not.
- [W3] Climate normals 1991–2020, Jakarta Kemayoran (WMO 96745), BMKG (WMO Climate Normals 1991–2020 via NOAA NCEI). Checked 15 October 2026. Jakarta's city station: mean daily highs 30.8 to 33.4 °C (January 31.0, February 30.8, March 32.1, April 32.8, May 33.2, June 32.9, July 32.7, August 33.0, September 33.4, October 33.4, November 32.8, December 32.0); no month is 30 °C or under, so 0 comfortable months. Used for the warm weather type and as the second city for the climate grade.
- [W2] Monthly normals, Denpasar/Ngurah Rai (WMO 97230), Japan Meteorological Agency, Tokyo Climate Center (World Climate: monthly normals from the station's CLIMAT reports). Checked 15 October 2026. Monthly rainfall normals in mm, January to December: 350.7, 289.8, 231.1, 107.4, 94.7, 67.9, 27.6, 36.4, 59.4, 64.4, 131.2, 327.4. The page does not state the normals period. It is used only for the rainfall test, which June, July and August pass by a wide margin (28 to 68 mm against the 150 mm line); a Wikipedia copy of the 1991–2020 values gives 51, 30 and 16 mm for the same months.
- [S1] Global Peace Index 2026, overall rank, Institute for Economics and Peace. Checked 15 October 2026. Indonesia ranks 69th of 163 countries.
- [H1] UHC service coverage index (SDG 3.8.1), World Health Organization. Checked 15 October 2026. Indonesia: 67 out of 100 (2023).
- [K3] Indonesian visa list, Directorate General of Immigration, Indonesia. Checked 15 October 2026. Lists, under Special Residency Visas, E33 (Special Residency Visa, Golden Visa), E33E (5-Year Retiree Special Residency Visa, Golden Visa), E33F (1-Year Retiree Special Residency Visa) and E33G (Remote Worker Special Residency Visa).
- [K2] Fixed broadband subscriptions per 100 people, Indonesia, International Telecommunication Union, via the World Bank. Checked 15 October 2026. 2024: 4.92 per 100 people, read from the World Bank API on 15 October 2026.
- [R1] E33E 5-Year Retiree Special Residency Visa, Directorate General of Immigration, Indonesia. Checked 15 October 2026. For foreign nationals aged 55 or older; stay of 5 or 10 years (extendable online, total stay up to 10 years, convertible to another stay permit); no sponsor; immigration guarantee of a commitment to deposit at least US$50,000 in the applicant's own account at a state-owned bank, held for as long as the permit is valid; evidence of income or an allowance of at least US$3,000 a month; the visa is valid for 90 days from issue. The page names no path to permanent residence.
- [R2] E33F 1-Year Retiree Special Residency Visa (Indonesian-language page), Directorate General of Immigration, Indonesia. Checked 15 October 2026. Page read in Indonesian on 15 October 2026. Stay of 1 year, extendable online; needs a sponsor; evidence of income or an allowance of at least US$3,000 a month. The page shown does not state an age.