Jakarta. Indonesia recorded a monthly deflation of 0.37 percent in May 2025, driven primarily by falling food prices, according to the latest data released by the Central Statistics Agency (BPS). On a year-on-year basis, however, inflation stood at 1.6 percent.

BPS Deputy for Statistics Pudji Ismartini said this marked a deeper monthly deflation than the 0.03 percent decline posted in the same month last year.

“The food, beverage, and tobacco group contributed the largest deflation in May 2025 at 0.41 percent month-on-month,” Pudji said during a press briefing in Jakarta on Monday. “Key contributors were red chili, bird’s eye chili, shallots, and garlic.”

Red chili and bird’s eye chili each shaved off 0.12 percentage points from the monthly inflation rate, followed by shallots at 0.09 percentage points and garlic at 0.04 percentage points. Fresh fish and broiler chicken meat also contributed to the deflation, albeit to a lesser extent.

According to Pudji,  historically, the month of May typically recorded inflation due to the Eid and post-Eid periods. However, both May 2024 and May 2025 bucked that trend by registering deflation.

“From 2021 to 2023, May consistently saw inflation driven by seasonal spending patterns during and after Lebaran. But May 2024 and May 2025 recorded deflation,” Pudji explained.

BPS data also revealed a sharp drop in garlic imports for the first four months of the year. Between January and April 2025, Indonesia imported 82,600 tons of garlic, down 14.05 percent year-on-year. In value terms, imports totaled $114.8 million, down 8.45 percent from the same period in 2024.

The slump in garlic imports comes amid rising concerns over volatile garlic prices. The government is currently drafting a reference price policy for garlic to stabilize domestic prices. Officials are also preparing sanctions for importers who fail to meet their approved import quotas.

Edy Priyono, Deputy for Economic Affairs at the Presidential Staff Office (KSP), said garlic price spikes are largely driven by low import realization. He cited a coordination meeting held on May 8, which included representatives from the Coordinating Ministry for Economic Affairs, the National Food Agency (Bapanas), the Trade Ministry, and the National Police’s Food Task Force.

At the meeting, it was revealed that of the 250,000 tons needed for the January-May period, only 113,477 tons, less than half, had been realized, representing just 34.7 percent of the import approvals issued to 56 companies.

“The issue is not with the import permits themselves, but with the low realization rate by importers,” Edy said.

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