Indonesia Imported 1.3 Million Kilograms of Oxygen in 2020

The need for medical oxygen in Indonesia has increased along with the surge in Covid-19 cases in several regions. One strategy being prepared by the government is to import oxygen from abroad.

However, oxygen imports are not a new phenomenon. Indonesia has been doing this for a long time, even before the pandemic. Trademap reports show a total volume of oxygen imports into the country reaching 12.81 million kilograms from 2016 to 2020.

Recorded imports of oxygen in Indonesia amounted to 3.63 million kilograms in 2016. Then, the import volume increased by 7% to 3.88 million kilograms the following year.

The volume of oxygen imports decreased by 40.3% to 2.31 million kilograms in 2018. Then, the volume of oxygen imports decreased again in 2019 and 2020, reaching 1.72 million kilograms and 1.25 million kilograms respectively.

Since 2016, Indonesia has imported most of its oxygen from its neighboring country, Singapore. In 2020, 99.6% of Indonesia's oxygen imports originated from Singapore.

The explosion of Covid-19 cases has caused an oxygen shortage in Indonesia. The government plans to import more oxygen to meet domestic needs.