The Central Statistics Agency (BPS) reported that until last August, agricultural exports this year had reached USD3.05 billion.The Deputy for Distribution and Service Statistics of BPS Setianto said that when compared to the same period last year, agricultural exports from January to August this year rose 17.14%. In terms of contribution, the agricultural sector is in the third position, after the industrial and mining sectors. "The largest share is in the industrial sector with a share of 71.55%, mining 21.30%, oil and gas 5.58% and agriculture 1.57%," Setianto said while attending a virtual BPS press conference, Thursday (15/9). Setianto added that the total cumulative exports in the January to August period reached USD194.6 billion, an increase of 35.42% over the same period last year. Meanwhile, non-oil and gas exports increased 35.24% to USD 183.73 billion.
"So far, the leading export performance is still dominated by palm oil, iron and steel as well as coal," he said. Especially in August, the agricultural sector is also said to have increased. Agricultural exports recorded transactions worth USD450 million. If calculated on a monthly basis (M-to-M) from August 2022 to July 2022, agricultural exports increased by 16.99%. Meanwhile on an annual basis or (Y-on-Y) also experienced an increase of 31.17%. "The increase was mainly driven by commodities of coffee, annual fruits, swallow's nest, seaweed, vegetables and others," he said. The increase in agricultural exports is linear with the increase in overall Indonesian exports. Total exports in August reached USD27.91 billion, an increase of 9.17% compared to the previous month. Separately, the Head of the Ministry of Agriculture's Public Relations and Public Information Bureau, Kuntoro Boga Andri, said that the performance of agricultural exports continued to be boosted through various programs and policies. These include the three-time export movement program (geratieks) as well as increasing national food production. "We continue to increase domestic production to accelerate the increase in exports," he explained.
