The archipelago’s trade surplus, or the amount by which exports exceeded imports, rose to US$5.49 billion in August, Statistics Indonesia official M. Habibullah revealed at a press conference on Wednesday.

Habibullah said that figure was “the highest” since November 2022, and with it, Indonesia has maintained a trade surplus for 64 consecutive months.

The surplus was mostly driven by exports of manufactured goods, which grew 11.68 percent year-on-year (yoy) to $19.8 billion, thereby accounting for the lion’s share of the $23.89 billion in total non-oil and gas exports in August.

Outgoing shipments of agriculture, forestry and fisheries products, meanwhile, grew at a respectable 10.98 percent pace yoy but only account for $603 million of overall exports. Exports of mined goods, on the other hand, contracted 15.5 percent yoy to $3.47 billion.

BPS categorizes processed mining commodities, such as refined nickel, as manufactured goods, while mined goods refers to unprocessed minerals.

Over the first eight months of the year, manufactured goods exports rose 16.6 percent yoy and agriculture, forestry and fisheries products surged 38.25 percent yoy, but mined products plunged 24.31 percent yoy.