Minister of Trade Zulhas: The 2022 Trade Balance Surplus Sets Highest Record

Minister of Trade Zulkifli Hasan. (Photo: Doc. Ministry of Trade)

JAKARTA - The Minister of Trade Zulkifli Hasan revealed that Indonesia's 2022 trade balance value was a surplus of USD 54.46 billion.

He said, the 2022 trade balance surplus was the biggest surplus on record so far.

"I am grateful, the 2022 trade balance surplus of USD 54.46 billion is the biggest record so far. This trade balance is driven by export performance in 2022 which also set a new record with a value of USD 291.98 billion," he said in a statement, Wednesday, January 18.

At the end of 2022, he said, Indonesia's trade balance again recorded a surplus in December 2022 of USD 3.89 billion.

The surplus consisted of non-oil and gas trade of 5.61 billion US dollars and an oil and gas trade deficit of 1.73 billion US dollars.

"This surplus continues the trend of the 32nd consecutive monthly surplus since May 2020," he said.

Zulhas, nicknamed Zulkifli Hasan, said that the trade surplus was contributed by several of Indonesia's main trading partner countries.

The United States was the largest contributor to the surplus with a value of USD 1.11 billion, followed by India with USD 0.98 billion, and the Philippines with USD 0.87 billion.

In December 2022, Indonesia's export value reached USD 23.83 billion. This value fell 1.10 percent compared to November 2022 (MoM), but still increased 6.58 percent compared to December 2021 (YoY). The decline was due to the weakening of non-oil and gas exports by 2.73% MoM.

Meanwhile, oil and gas exports continued to increase by 32.46% MoM. The decline in the value of non-oil and gas exports in December 2022 occurred due to a weakening in all sectors.

In this period, continued Zulhas, exports of the agricultural sector fell by 12.09 percent, exports of the manufacturing sector fell by 1.12 percent, and exports of the mining sector experienced a weakening of 6.61 percent MoM.

The weakening of exports in December 2022 was triggered by a decline in exports of several products, including coffee, tea and spices (HS 09) down 22.11 percent, inorganic chemicals (HS 28) down 20.90 percent, precious metals, jewelry/gems ( HS 71) fell 11.61 percent, clothing and accessories (knitting) (HS 61) fell 10.67 percent, and animal/vegetable fats and oils (HS 15) fell 9.47 percent MoM.

In the midst of this weakening in exports, there were several main non-oil and gas export products that still experienced a significant increase.

These products include tin and goods thereof (HS 80) which rose 61.35 percent, nickel and goods thereof (HS 75) which rose 41.50 percent, and man-made staple fiber (HS 55) which rose 24.45 percent MoM.

"The increase in tin and nickel exports was triggered by an increase in tin and nickel prices in December 2022 by 13.76 percent and 13.24 percent MoM respectively," he said.

Zulhas also revealed that China, Japan and the United States are the main markets for Indonesia's non-oil and gas exports.

In December 2022, the partner country's non-oil and gas export value was recorded at USD 9.92 billion and contributed 44.39 percent to the national non-oil and gas exports.

As for several other non-oil and gas export destinations that are still experiencing an increase in exports in December 2022, they include Spain which rose 91.84 percent, Pakistan rose 58.36 percent, England rose 48.34 percent, Vietnam rose 21.63 percent, and Singapore increased 16.66 percent.

"In terms of the region, the largest strengthening of non-oil and gas exports occurred to West Asia which rose 207.93 percent, Northern Europe (34.12 percent MoM) and Southern Europe (15.08 percent MoM)," he said.

Cumulatively, total exports during the 2022 period were recorded at USD 291.98 billion, an increase of 26.07 percent compared to the same period the previous year (YoY).

The increase in exports was supported by strengthening exports in the non-oil and gas sector which rose 25.80 percent (yoy) to USD 275.96 billion and exports in the oil and gas sector which rose 30.82 percent (yoy) to 16.02 billion.