June 2018 Exports Down 20% Compared to the Previous Month

The long Eid al-Fitr holiday in June 2018 resulted in fewer working days compared to the previous month, impacting national export and import performance. Badan Pusat Statistik (BPS, Indonesia's Central Bureau of Statistics) reported that Indonesia's export value in June 2018 decreased by 19.8% to US$13 billion compared to the previous month, but showed an 11.47% increase compared to the same month of the previous year. Last month's exports consisted of US$1.72 billion in oil and gas exports and US$11.28 billion in non-oil and gas exports.

Similarly, Indonesia's imports in June plummeted by 36.27% to US$11.26 billion compared to the previous month, but still recorded a 12.66% increase compared to the same month of the previous year. The value of oil and gas imports throughout June reached US$2.1 billion, down from the previous month, while non-oil and gas imports shrank by 38.23% to US$9.14 billion. Businesses' pre-Ramadan imports and anticipation of the long holiday led to a more than one-third decrease in import value in June compared to the previous month.

The sharper decline in imports compared to exports resulted in a US$1.74 billion trade surplus for Indonesia in June 2018. This is the first surplus in the last three months, narrowing the trade deficit to US$1 billion from the previous US$2.83 billion.