Amid the Pandemic, Agricultural Exports Continue to Grow

During the COVID-19 pandemic, when almost all sectors of the Indonesian economy were hit hard, the agricultural sector remained a mainstay. According to the Head of the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) Suhariyanto, only agricultural exports showed year-on-year (YoY) growth until April 2020.

In April, Indonesian agricultural exports still grew by 12.66 percent compared to April of the previous year. Almost all other export sectors, however, plummeted. Oil and gas exports, for example, fell by 17.7 percent, the manufacturing industry by 1.77 percent, and mining exports by 29.47 percent. This is despite the fact that manufacturing exports still showed positive growth until March 2020. Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, Indonesia's total exports in April fell by 7.02 percent compared to April 2019.

From January to April 2020, agricultural product exports continued to show positive YoY growth. In February, Indonesian agricultural product exports even surged by 28.04 percent compared to the previous year. One of the priority programs of Minister of Agriculture Syahrul Yasin Limpo, the "Gerakan Tiga Kali Ekspor" (GRATIEKS) program, is specifically designed to boost agricultural exports.