Indonesia’s import and export activities
Indonesia is the world's largest archipelagic state, comprising more than 17,000 islands stretching from the Indian Ocean to the Pacific Ocean. Most of Indonesia's territory is maritime, and it shares land borders only with Papua New Guinea, Timor-Leste, and Malaysia.
With a coastline of more than 54,000 km, Indonesia has enormous potential to develop maritime transport and deep-water ports. Key seaports such as Tanjung Priok (Jakarta), Tanjung Perak (Surabaya), and Belawan (Medan) not only serve domestic trade needs but also play an important role in the international trade network. Owing to its proximity to strategic sea lanes such as the Straits of Malacca, Sunda, and Lombok, Indonesia is well positioned to become a transshipment and trade connectivity hub in the Asia-Pacific region.
Indonesia's trade activity has been very dynamic, with total merchandise trade increasing markedly over the past decade. According to ITC Trade Map data, the country's total merchandise trade rose from USD 293 billion in 2015 to USD 524.75 billion in 2025. Export growth outpaced import growth, resulting in an increasingly large trade surplus, which expanded from USD 7.59 billion in 2015 to USD 41.05 billion in 2025.
Table: Indonesia's merchandise trade performance, 2015-2025
|
|
2015 |
2016 |
2017 |
2018 |
2019 |
2020 |
2021 |
2022 |
2023 |
2024 |
2025 |
|
Exports |
150.28 |
144.49 |
168.81 |
180.22 |
167.68 |
163.31 |
231.59 |
291.98 |
258.80 |
264.70 |
282.90 |
|
Imports |
142.69 |
135.65 |
156.93 |
188.71 |
171.28 |
141.62 |
195.69 |
237.45 |
221.74 |
233.66 |
241.85 |
|
Trade balance |
7.59 |
8.84 |
11.89 |
-8.50 |
-3.59 |
21.68 |
35.89 |
54.53 |
37.06 |
31.04 |
41.05 |
Source: ITC Trade Map, 2026
Exports
During 2015-2025, Indonesia's exports grew significantly, increasing 1.9 times from USD 150.3 billion in 2015 to USD 282.9 billion in 2025.
Indonesia's export structure is concentrated mainly in several product groups such as minerals, palm oil, iron and steel, and machinery and equipment. In particular, mineral-related products, including mineral fuels and oils, precious stones and metals, ores, and nickel, account for a substantial share, exceeding 23%, of the country’s total exports.
This dependence on natural resources and the predominance of raw or semi-processed exports make Indonesia vulnerable to fluctuations in international commodity prices as well as trade barriers related to environmental requirements and technical standards.
Table: Top 10 Export Products of Indonesia in 2025
|
No. |
Indonesia's main export items |
Export value in 2025 (USD billion) |
Share of total exports |
|
1 |
Chapter 27: Mineral fuels, mineral oils and products of their distillation; bituminous substances; mineral waxes |
45.11 |
15.95% |
|
2 |
Chapter 15: Animal, vegetable or microbial fats and oils and their cleavage products; prepared edible fats; animal or vegetable waxes |
34.36 |
12.15% |
|
3 |
Chapter 72: Iron and steel |
27.97 |
9.89% |
|
4 |
Chapter 85: Electrical machinery and equipment and parts thereof; sound recorders and reproducers, television image and sound recorders and reproducers, and parts and accessories of such articles |
19.19 |
6.78% |
|
5 |
Chapter 87: Vehicles other than railway or tramway rollingstock, and parts and accessories thereof |
12.18 |
4.3% |
|
6 |
Chapter 71: Natural or cultured pearls, precious or semi-precious stones, precious metals, metals clad with precious metal, and articles thereof; imitation jewellery; coin |
11.66 |
4.12% |
|
7 |
Chapter 75: Nickel and articles thereof |
9.73 |
3.44% |
|
8 |
Chapter 38: Miscellaneous chemical products |
9.49 |
3.36% |
|
9 |
Chapter 84: Nuclear reactors, boilers, machinery and mechanical appliances; parts thereof |
8.16 |
2.89% |
|
10 |
Chapter 64: Footwear, gaiters and the like; parts of such articles |
7.97 |
2.82% |
Source: ITC Trade Map, 2026
Imports
Over the past decade, Indonesia's imports have generally also shown an upward trend, albeit more slowly than exports, rising from USD 142.7 billion in 2015 to USD 241.9 billion in 2025, equivalent to a 1.7-fold increase.
The structure of Indonesia's imports shows that the country has high import demand for fuel products and machinery and equipment used in production. These groups alone account for more than 30% of Indonesia's total imports. In addition, Indonesia also has considerable import demand for iron and steel, plastics, chemicals, cereals, and other products.
Table: Top 10 import products of Indonesia in 2025
|
No. |
Indonesia's main import items |
Import value in 2025 (USD billion) |
Share in total imports |
|
1 |
Chapter 27: Mineral fuels, mineral oils and products of their distillation; bituminous substances; mineral waxes |
36.80 |
15.22% |
|
2 |
Chapter 84: Nuclear reactors, boilers, machinery and mechanical appliances; parts thereof |
36.64 |
15.15% |
|
3 |
Chapter 85: Electrical machinery and equipment and parts thereof; sound recorders and reproducers, television image and sound recorders and reproducers, and parts and accessories of such articles |
31.88 |
13.18% |
|
4 |
Chapter 87: Vehicles other than railway or tramway rollingstock, and parts and accessories thereof |
10.99 |
4.55% |
|
5 |
Chapter 39: Plastics and articles thereof |
10.43 |
4.31% |
|
6 |
Chapter 72: Iron and steel |
9.53 |
3.94% |
|
7 |
Chapter 29: Organic chemicals |
6.25 |
2.58% |
|
8 |
Chapter 38: Miscellaneous chemical products |
5.19 |
2.15% |
|
9 |
Chapter 71: Natural or cultured pearls, precious or semi-precious stones, precious metals, metals clad with precious metal, and articles thereof; imitation jewellery; coin |
5.16 |
2.13% |
|
10 |
Chapter 90: Optical, photographic, cinematographic, measuring, checking, precision, medical or surgical instruments and apparatus; parts and accessories thereof |
4.78 |
1.98% |
Source: ITC Trade Map, 2026
Source: Center for WTO and International Trade - VCCI
