The transmigration program has grown exponentially since its birth on December 12, 1950. On that day, some dozen families from Central Java arrived in Lampung Province in Southern Sumatra, They were the first of the 1.5 million families about 6.4 million people who settled in the 2,247 sites between 1950 and 1993.

The first 18 years of the voluntary program, 1950-1968, were a period of considerable turmoil within the new nation, and fewer than 50,000 families 98,774 people participated. Under the earlier Dutch program, which was not always voluntary, 144,000 families 648,000 people were moved, almost exclusively to work on plantations in Sumatra, between 1905-1940.

The modern era began in 1968 with the inauguration of a comprehensive 25-Year Development Plan for the nation and the first of the Five-Year National Economic Development Plans (Repelitas) that were drafted to carry out the aims of the long-range transmigration plan. After a relatively slow start during Repelita I, the number of transmigrants nearly doubled during the next five years and registered explosive growth in the two subsequent five-year periods before declining in recent years.

The following table shows the number of transmigrants who have participated in the government-sponsored program since 1950, and during each of the five-year plans: