Picture a 16-year-old finishing class at a vocational high school in Sumatra, or in a small town outside Surabaya. She is not thinking about university rankings or career ladders. She is thinking about her family, her friends, and what comes after graduation. I asked more than 5,000 students like her how they really feel about their lives. The answers were honest, sometimes surprising, and worth sharing beyond the world of marketing and business. This comes from the IYG (Indo

The typical picture of an ageing Indonesian? Inactive. No spending power. Just sitting at home, watching TV. Waiting. This picture is wrong. I have been studying this segment for several years. Two studies — a larger one in 2023 (200 seniors aged 55–75) and a more recent one in 2026 (44 seniors aged 60+ and 45 adult children) — point in the same direction. The senior market in urban Indonesia is more active, more motivated, and more misunderstood than most people assum

When we asked 5,027 SMK students what they would upgrade first if their income doubled, food came last. Gadgets came fourth. Clothing came second. Personal care came third — ahead of gadgets and food, behind only saving and clothing. For a category often treated as low-priority in youth marketing, that ranking deserves attention. Among female students, it ranks second. Above clothing. Above gadgets. Above everything except saving. Among males, it barely registers. The Numbers

Ask an SMK student in Indonesia what they would spend on if money were only enough for one thing. More than half give the same answer: food and drinks. Now ask what they would upgrade first if their income doubled. Only 2 in 100 say F&B. That is the F&B paradox. The category is essential — not aspirational. Those two things are not the same, and brands that treat them as the same are building the wrong strategy. What the Data Shows The IYG Study 2026 surveyed 5,027 SMK studen

We surveyed 5,027 SMK students across 20 provinces in urban and semi-urban Indonesia. When we split the data by geographic area, we found not one youth market — but four, with meaningfully different financial realities. For any bank, digital bank, e-wallet operator, or fintech targeting this cohort, the strategic implication is direct: your Jabotabek playbook will not work in Java. Your Java playbook will not work in Sumatra. And none of them will work in the rest of Indonesi

Ask any SMK student in Indonesia what they would do if their income suddenly increased, and six out of ten will give you the same answer: save or invest more. That is not a guess. It is what 3,087 out of 5,027 students told us — unprompted, as their single top priority — in the Indonesia's Youngest Generation (IYG) Study 2026, a quantitative survey conducted across 20 provinces in May 2026. The finding is striking. But the more interesting question is the one right next to it