JAKARTA, July 27 (Reuters) – The approval rating of Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto fell to 51.1% in July 2026, a poll showed, with respondents pointing to the state of the country’s economy more than a year and a half into his term of office.
Prabowo’s approval rating stood at 81.2% in November 2025, before falling to 66.4% in a survey conducted between late February and early March, Deni Irvani, executive director of Saiful Mujani Research and Consulting (SMRC), said during a livestreamed press conference on Sunday.
“Public perceptions of a deteriorating national economy were the main factor behind the decline in satisfaction with his performance,” Irvani said.
Nearly half of the respondents, or 49.4%, said economic conditions were either “bad” or “very bad”, with just 15.7%saying the economy was doing well, down from 40% in November.
The survey confirmed the opinions of some economists that while Indonesia’s economic growth figures are accurate, they do not reflect perceptions of prosperity on an individual level, Irvani said.
Dissatisfaction about the political situation as well as the state of law enforcement have also undermined Prabowo’s popularity, he added.
The survey collected the opinions of 749 respondents from July 5 to 19, and has an estimated margin of error of 3.7%.
As many as 42.8% of the respondents said Prabowo’s handling of the political situation was “bad” or “very bad”, up sharply from 23% in November.
The number who approved of his political performance has fallen to 13.5% compared to 35.8% in November.
On law enforcement, 37.6% of the respondents said conditions were either “bad” or “very bad”.
Prabowo took office in October 2024 after a sweeping general election victory on promises to stamp out corruption and increase economic opportunities by accelerating annual gross domestic product growth from 5% to 8%.
However, his administration has been reeling this year under the impact of a depreciating currency and a poorly performing stock market, as well as concerns about overspending and the independence of the central bank.
One of the key parts of Prabowo’s election campaign was an ambitious free-meals programme launched in January 2025, but the programme has been riddled with problems and its budget has been cut twice.
Despite the cuts, Indonesia’s budget deficit is still expected to widen to 2.85% of GDP this year.
(Reporting by Dewi Kurniawati; Editing by David Stanway)
