Indonesia‘s exports registered a 3% year-on-year drop in 2020, to $ 163.342 billion, affected in part by a decline in its external coal sales of -24.1 percent.

Coal is one of the most exported products by Indonesia, with a total of 16.443 million dollars last year.

Above this product were both palm oil and basic metal products.

At year-on-year rates, Indonesia’s palm oil exports grew 17.5%, to $ 17.29 billion; while sales abroad of basic metal products climbed 24.9%, to 16,697 million dollars, according to data from the Bank of Indonesia.

Indonesia is the fourth most populous country in the world, with a population of approximately 270.2 million in 2020. It is a developing nation in Southeast Asia, spread over an archipelago of approximately 16,056 islands.

Despite a contraction in 2020 due in large part to the negative impact that the Covid-19 outbreak had on domestic demand, in recent years Indonesia has enjoyed relatively high economic growth and has consolidated its transformation towards a participatory democracy that places greater political power in the hands of local citizens and regional governments.

Indonesia’s economy contracted 2.1% in 2020, compared to growth of 5.0% or more in each of the previous four years.

Indonesia exports

Starting in 2012, the Republic of Indonesia began using a revised methodology to collect data on exports and imports.

Thus, this revised methodology was implemented to comply with international best practices and improve consistency with other Bank of Indonesia publications.

As a result of this change, the classification of certain export and import products has changed.

Post-classification revisions were carried out for data published from 2005 onwards.

As of March 1, 2014, exporters are required to declare the value of their exported goods using insurance freight delivery cost terms to improve the validity and accuracy of freight and insurance data for export activities.

The requirements introduced in 2014 have not changed the business process of export transactions, where the export value remains the actual transaction value agreed by exporters and importers.

Balance of trade

In 2020, Indonesia posted a trade surplus of $ 21.2 billion, which was reversed from the deficit of $ 5 billion in 2019.

A further contraction in imports affected all commodity groups in response to severely affected national economic activity, held back by mobility restrictions during the Covid-19 pandemic, as well as a contraction in exports recorded in 2020.