What do 2025 fisheries figures reveal about Flores and NTT?

Flores and the surrounding islands remain closely tied to fisheries, but official 2025 data show that Nusa Tenggara Timur’s fishing economy is under pressure: the province recorded the country’s lowest average Fishermen’s Terms of Trade in the first quarter, while national fisheries output still rose year on year. The figures describe the province, not Flores alone.

What do the latest official figures show?

The Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries reported that Nusa Tenggara Timur had the lowest average Fishermen’s Terms of Trade among Indonesian provinces in the first quarter of 2025, with a value of 91.898, according to the ministry’s first-quarter 2025 marine and fisheries data release.

The index is a measure of fishermen’s purchasing power: a value below 100 indicates that the prices paid by fishermen and their household-cost pressures were not matched by the prices they received, according to the same ministry release.

Does that mean fisheries production fell?

Not necessarily. The ministry estimated national first-quarter 2025 fisheries production at 5.87 million tonnes, consisting of 1.69 million tonnes from capture fisheries and 4.17 million tonnes from aquaculture, according to KKP, 2025.

National production increased 2.21 percent year on year in the first quarter of 2025, but that total does not identify output from Flores or each surrounding island. It therefore cannot be used as a Flores-specific production figure.

Why does the result matter for Flores?

Flores is part of Nusa Tenggara Timur, so the provincial index is relevant to the island’s fishing communities, but it is not a direct measurement of every coastal district. The result signals economic pressure across the province’s fishing sector rather than proving that conditions were identical in Labuan Bajo, Ende, Sikka, Flores Timur or the neighbouring islands.

The distinction matters because fisheries statistics count different things: production measures the volume of fish or farmed products, while the Fishermen’s Terms of Trade measures the relationship between fishermen’s prices and household expenses.

How does this fit the wider NTT economy?

BPS-Statistics Indonesia reported that Nusa Tenggara Timur’s economy grew 4.55 percent year on year in the first quarter of 2025, according to BPS, 2025. Provincial economic growth covers all sectors and cannot be read as a measure of fishermen’s welfare.

Together, the two official sources show why a growing provincial economy and difficult conditions for fishermen can coexist: they use different indicators and cover different parts of economic life.

Sources

• Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries
• BPS-Statistics Indonesia, East Nusa Tenggara Province