Indonesia Always Runs a Trade Surplus with India

The visit of Indian Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi to Indonesia is expected to boost trade and investment between the two countries. PM Modi's visit is a reciprocal state visit following President Joko Widodo's official visit to India in December 2016. The visit also included a meeting of the Indonesia-India CEO Forum.

Indonesia has consistently recorded a trade surplus with India. Data from the Ministry of Trade shows that Indonesia's trade with India in 2017 reached US$ 18.13 billion. This comprised Indonesian exports to India valued at US$ 14.98 billion and imports from India at US$ 4.05 billion. As a result, Indonesia's trade balance showed a surplus of US$ 10.04 billion, the largest since 2013.

However, Indonesia's trade with India during the January-March 2018 period declined by 2.99% to US$ 4.32 billion compared to the same period the previous year. Indonesian exports to India decreased by 7% to US$ 3.2 billion, while imports from India increased by 10.82% to US$ 1.1 billion. Consequently, Indonesia's trade surplus fell by 14.4% to US$ 2.09 billion compared to the same period the previous year.