Clustering regencies/cities in Central Sulawesi Province based on poverty level using the average linkage method with Principal Component Analysis (PCA) / Paskal Immanuel Kontoro … [et al.]

Poverty is a chronic problem that has haunted Indonesia throughout its history and become a central focus of national development because poverty is the root of various problems. In 2022, Central Sulawesi is one of Indonesia's ten provinces with the highest percentage of poor people. To determine poverty alleviation policies on target, the Government needs to pay attention to the characteristics of each region because it has different characteristics. Therefore, this research aims to group 13 regencies and cities in Central Sulawesi based on poverty levels in 2022 using the Average Linkage method with Principal Component Analysis (PCA) to support the government's efforts to reduce poverty rates. The factors used in measuring poverty levels as a basis for grouping are the number of poor people, poverty depth index, human development index, Gini ratio, poverty severity index, and open unemployment rate. Two clusters were formed from the results of this research. The first cluster is the cluster with the highest poverty rate, which consists of 12 regencies, namely Banggai Kepulauan, Banggai Laut, Tojo Una-Una, Buol, Morowali Utara, Parigi Moutong, Banggai, Poso, Donggala, Toli-Toli, Morowali, and Sigi. Meanwhile, the second cluster has the lowest poverty level, consisting of one city, Palu City.