Indonesia's Export Contribution of Goods and Services Only 21% of GDP

Indonesia's value of goods and services exports lags behind other Southeast Asian (ASEAN) countries. This is reflected in Indonesia's position at the very bottom, as shown in the graph.

As is known, the national value of goods and services exports throughout 2018 amounted to US$218.5 billion, or only 20.97% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), which reached US$1.042 trillion. The percentage of Indonesia's goods and services exports is far behind Singapore, which reached 176.4% of GDP, and Vietnam, at 95% of GDP.

The low value of Indonesia's goods and services exports is one of the factors contributing to the fluctuating exchange rate of the rupiah against the US dollar when the global economy is plagued by uncertainty. The low level of goods and services exports limits the inflow of foreign exchange. Meanwhile, the outflow of foreign exchange increases in line with the increase in import demand.

(Read Databoks: National Import Value Has Exceeded Export Value Five Times Since 1975)