Forget Jakarta. Forget Yogyakarta. The province with the highest reading interest in all of Indonesia is Nusa Tenggara Timur — a region most people associate with drought, not books.

That's the finding from Badan Pusat Statistik (BPS) and Perpustakaan Nasional RI's 2025 Tingkat Kegemaran Membaca (TGM) survey, released earlier this year. And it's the kind of data that makes you stop scrolling.

What Is the TGM Survey, Exactly ?

The TGM (Tingkat Kegemaran Membaca) is a national index compiled by BPS in collaboration with Perpustakaan Nasional RI, measuring reading habits across three dimensions: pre-reading (scored 50.05 nationally), during reading (53.94), and post-reading (57.9). It is not just about how many books you finish. The index measures reading frequency, duration, average pages read, and even how often people access the internet to seek out information — making it one of the most holistic literacy benchmarks in the country.

In short: it tracks whether reading is actually changing how you think and act, not just whether a book sits on your shelf.

The Result That Nobody Predicted
NTT recorded the highest overall TGM score of 62.05, and also showed strong consistency across all reading phases — including a post-reading score of 65.38. NTB came in second at 61.19, followed by South Sumatra at 60.86. 

Notably, not a single province from Java made the top 10 list.  That's the counterintuitive punch: provinces with the most bookstores, universities, and libraries — Jakarta, Bandung, Surabaya — did not rank among Indonesia's most enthusiastic readers.

Why Eastern Indonesia Is Leading

The TGM results show that high reading interest does not necessarily depend on economic status or urban development. NTT reaching the top spot proves that a reading habit can thrive outside metropolitan areas. 

Perpusnas also noted that the 2025 survey used a revised assessment instrument — one that more accurately measures local government performance according to each region's specific authority, rather than simply checking administrative compliance like library building size or collection volume. The shift in methodology may partly explain why eastern provinces — which have been quietly investing in community literacy programs — are now ranking higher.

Picture a village in Flores on a Sunday afternoon. No cinema, no mall. Just a community reading corner (Taman Bacaan Masyarakat) buzzing with kids — and adults — passing books around in the heat. That image is no longer an anomaly. It's the national average leader.

What Java Still Has

Java remains home to Indonesia's strongest literacy infrastructure. Yogyakarta, with its density of universities and academic communities, continues to have a deeply embedded reading culture. Jakarta and Bandung lead in access to books, modern libraries, and digital literacy. Infrastructure and enthusiasm, it turns out, are two different things. Eastern Indonesia has the second without waiting for the first.