Labuan Bajo’s gateway role in official population and service data
Labuan Bajo’s gateway role rests on a wider regency system: official data records its population base, electricity reach and water-quality conditions around the town.
Editor: Mursyid Sonsang
· 2 min read
Labuan Bajo’s gateway role is supported by more than visitor flows: the town sits within a regency whose official statistical profile tracks population, public services, infrastructure and transport. The clearest baseline is BPS’s 2025 regency publication, while a regional diagnostic adds a 2024 population estimate and indicators on electricity and water quality.
What official source describes Labuan Bajo?
The main reference is Kabupaten Manggarai Barat Dalam Angka 2025, released by the Manggarai Barat Statistics Agency on 28 February 2025, according to BPS Kabupaten Manggarai Barat, 2025. It is a regency-level publication, so it provides the statistical framework around Labuan Bajo rather than a standalone town census.
How large is the population base?
Manggarai Barat’s population reached approximately 276.28 thousand people in 2024, up from 265.61 thousand in 2022, according to the Regional Diagnostic report published by the Manggarai Barat planning agency, 2026. The report gives the change as annual growth of 1.99 percent over the two-year period.
What does electricity access look like?
Electricity has reached nearly all households in urban areas and most coastal villages of Manggarai Barat, according to the Manggarai Barat Regional Diagnostic report, 2026. The same report says villages in hilly areas still face dependence on an unstable electricity network.
What is known about water quality?
The Regional Diagnostic report records a Water Quality Index of 51.69 for Manggarai Barat in 2024 and classifies it as “less” quality, according to the Manggarai Barat planning agency, 2026. That is a regency-wide environmental indicator, not a measurement limited to Labuan Bajo’s municipal water system.
Why does this matter for the gateway town?
Labuan Bajo’s airport, port and visitor economy operate within this wider service and population system. Reading the town through both BPS statistics and the planning agency’s diagnostic helps distinguish town-specific gateway functions from regency-wide conditions affecting residents and infrastructure.
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