Indonesia's trade balance reached US$35.34 billion in 2021, its highest value since 2006, the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) has reported. "Our trade balance in 2021 recorded a surplus of US$35.34 billion. This is the highest in the last 15 years. Previously, 2006 also recorded a record high of around US$39.37 billion," said head of the Statistics Agency Margo Yuwono at a virtual press conference here on Monday. He informed that the surplus came from exports of US$231.54 billion, which increased 41.88 percent compared to the year-ago period, and imports of US$196.19 billion, which increased 38.59 percent year on year in 2021. Based on BPS data, mining and other exports reached US$37 billion, up 92.15 percent or the highest compared to 2020, he noted. Earlier, the sector's contribution was just US$19.73 billion, he added.
Other sectors that contributed to the surplus in the trade balance last year were the manufacturing industry (US$177 billion), the oil and gas sector (US$12.27 billion), and the agricultural sector (US$4.23 billion), he informed. Meanwhile, the Statistics Agency also pegged imports of raw materials at US$147 billion, an increase of 42.80 percent compared to 2020, also the highest value during the period. Yuwono said that the highest trade balance surplus of US$5.75 billion was recorded in October 2021.