Located on the northwest coast of the world's most populous island of Java, Jakarta is the center of economics, culture and politics of Indonesia, with a population of 10,075,310 as of 2014.Greater Jakarta metropolitan area, which is known as Jabodetabek (a name formed by combining the initial syllables of Jakarta, Bogor, Depok, Tangerang and Bekasi), is the second largest urban agglomeration and 2nd largest city area in the world after Tokyo, with a population of 30,214,303 inhabitants as of 2010 census.  
As the economic and political capital of Indonesia with so many different languages and ethnic groups, it is difficult to describe or define a common culture for Jakarta, as the city attracts many native immigrants, from the vast and diverse Indonesian archipelago, who also bring their various languages, dialects, foods and customs. This diversity of origins and languages leads to differences in regard to religion, traditions and linguistics. However ethnic Betawi are considered as the indigenous people of Jakarta.

Indonesia is the largest economy of ASEAN and Jakarta is the economic nerve center of Indonesian archipelago. The city generated about one-sixth of Indonesian GDP in 2008.Nominal GDP of DKI Jakarta was US$483.8 billion in 2016, which is about 17.5% of the nominal GDP of Indonesia. Jakarta ranked 67th in Global Financial Centres Index 21 published by Z/Yen. The city ranks higher at 62 in Global Financial Centres Index 22, published in September, 2017. Jakarta ranked at 41 in Global Power City Index by The Mori Memorial Foundation in 2017.

Jakarta's economy depends highly on service sectors, banking, trading, financial, and manufacturing. Most of industries in Jakarta include electronics, automotive, chemicals, mechanical engineering and biomedical sciences manufacturing. Head office of Bank Indonesia and Indonesia Stock Exchange located in the city. Most of the SOE like Pertamina, PLN, PGN, Angkasa Pura, BULOG, Telkomsel, Waskita operate from their head offices in the city. Also major Indonesian conglomerates maintains head office in Jakarta. Important conglomerates which have corporate office in the city are, Salim Group, Sinar Mas Group, Astra International, Lippo Group, Bakrie Group, Ciputra Group, Agung Podomoro Group, Unilever Indonesia, Djarum, Gudang Garam, Kompas Gramedia, Lion Air, Sriwijaya Air, MedcoEnergi, MNC, Trans Corp and many more.

The economic growth of Jakarta in 2007 was 6.44% up from 5.95% the previous year, with the growth in the transportation and communication (15.25%), construction (7.81%) and trade, hotel and restaurant sectors (6.88%). In 2007, GRDP (Gross Regional Domestic Product) was Rp. 566 trillion (around $US 56 billion). The largest contributions to GRDP were by finance, ownership and business services (29%); trade, hotel and restaurant sector (20%), and manufacturing industry sector (16%).In 2007, the increase in per capita GRDP of DKI Jakarta inhabitants was 11.6% compared to the previous year[50] Both GRDP by at current market price and GRDP by at 2000 constant price in 2007 for the Municipality of Central Jakarta, which was Rp 146 million and Rp 81 million, was higher than other municipalities in Jakarta.Last data update was on 2014 by end of year Jakarta have a GRDP (Gross Regional Domestic Product) was Rp. 1,761.407 trillion (around USD 148.53 billion) with economic growth above 6% per year since 2009. In 2014, per capita GRDP of DKI Jakarta inhabitants was Rp 174.87 million or USD 14,727. In 2015, GDP per capita in the city was estimated Rp 194.87 million or US$14,570.

The Wealth Report 2015 by Knight Frank reported that there were 24 individuals in Indonesia in 2014 with wealth at least one billion US Dollar and 18 of them live in the capital Jakarta. The cost of living in the city continues to rise. Both land price and rents has become expensive. Mercer’s 2017 Cost of Living Survey ranked Jakarta as 88th costliest city in the world for expatriate employees living.Industrial development and the construction of new housing are usually undertaken on the outskirts, while commerce and banking remain concentrated in the city center. Jakarta has a bustling luxury property market. The investment in the property sector, including offices, commercial buildings, new town development, and high rise apartments and hotels grew substantially. Knight Frank, a global real estate consultancy based in London, reported in 2014 that Jakarta offered the highest return on high-end property investment in the world in 2013, citing supply shortage and a sharply depreciated currency as reasons.