16-9-2023 (JAKARTA) Indonesia’s export figures took a significant hit in August, with a year-on-year decline of 21.21 percent amounting to $22.00 billion, as reported by Statistics Indonesia (BPS) on Friday.
Key commodities, including coal, experienced a contraction of 48.91 percent compared to the previous year. Similarly, palm oil exports saw a decline of 35.23 percent, while iron and steel exports experienced a more modest drop of 0.96 percent.
Amalia Widyasanti, the acting head of BPS, stated during a press conference, “Cumulatively, Indonesia’s total exports from January to August amounted to $171.52 billion, marking a decrease of 11.85 percent compared to the same period last year.”
China, the United States, and India emerged as the primary non-oil and gas export destinations in August, accounting for a combined contribution of 45.20 percent to the total export value.
Conversely, the value of imports in August stood at $18.88 billion, reflecting a decline of 14.77 percent compared to the same month in the previous year.
Despite these challenging conditions, Indonesia maintained a trade surplus of $3.12 billion in August, marking the country’s 40th consecutive month in surplus.
