A vehicle moves past stacks of cargo containers in July 2025 at the Jakarta International Container Terminal at the Tanjung Priok Port in North Jakarta. (AFP/Bay Ismoyo)
Indonesia’s balance of trade has turned negative for the first time in six years as skyrocketing oil prices pushed up imports while weak global demand weighed on exports.In a press conference on Wednesday, Statistics Indonesia (BPS) official Ateng Hartono said the US$1.61 billion deficit in May was “mainly due to” the large deficit in oil and gas trade.
The last time Indonesia’s monthly imports exceeded exports was in April 2020, with a deficit of $375 million. After that, the trade balance remained positive with 72 consecutive months of surplus.
Ateng said May’s deficit was different from the last one, because “it was more affected by oil and gas”, noting that trade of non-oil and gas products was still in surplus, unlike in April 2020.
Oil and gas imports surged 71 percent from $2.64 billion in May of last year to $4.51 billion in the same month of 2026, not just because of higher prices but also due to a 7.28 percent year-on-year (yoy) increase in volumes of incoming shipments.
