Indonesia’s Export Boom Fueled by Manufacturing, While Mining Stumbles

Over the past five years, Indonesia’s export value has been dominated by manufacturing, led by animal/vegetable fats and oils, iron and steel, and machinery and electrical equipment.

Tim SUAR
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1 Min
By: Tim SUAR
Indonesia’s Export Boom Fueled by Manufacturing, While Mining Stumbles
Photo by Asael Peña / Unsplash

Indonesia’s exports continued to be powered by manufacturing in the first half of 2025, helping lift economic growth despite a slowdown in mining shipments.

Non-oil-and-gas exports climbed 8.96% year on year to US$128.39 billion, giving a welcome boost to first-half GDP. Manufacturing remained the mainstay, accounting for 83.81% of the total.

Machinery and electrical equipment posted the fastest rise, jumping 32.5% to US$9.26 billion, while exports of animal and vegetable fats and oils expanded 30.62% to US$15.89 billion.

Agriculture offered another bright spot. Sales of coffee, tea, maté and spices nearly doubled, surging 95.93% to US$1.54 billion, while exports of fruits and starchy fruits rose 71.88%.

Mining, by contrast, dragged on performance. Shipments of mineral fuels fell 22.9% and ores, slag and ash dropped 38.05%, though salt, sulfur, earths and stone gained 28.64%. Officials attributed the decline to weaker demand from India and Japan.

By destination, Indonesia logged notable export growth to the United States (+20.71%), China (+8.37%), and Thailand (+45.2%) in the first half of 2025. Exports to India and Japan declined 16.19% and 21.42%, respectively.

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Tim SUAR

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