Jakarta. Indonesia has continued its streak of trade surpluses, marking the 40th consecutive month of surplus in August, despite a narrowing trend, according to a report from the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) released on Friday.

The trade surplus for August reached $3.12 billion, with total exports amounting to $21.9 billion and imports at $18.8 billion.

"Indonesia has maintained a trade surplus for 40 consecutive months," Acting BPS Head Amalia Adininggar Widyasanti said during a news conference in Jakarta.

For the first eight months of the year, the trade surplus amounted to $24.34 billion, a significant drop of $10.55 billion compared to the same period last year. The BPS attributed the decline to the ongoing downward trend in mining commodity prices.

During this period, non-oil-and-gas exports declined by 12.27 percent to $161.13 billion, and oil and gas exports also decreased by 4.66 percent to $10.39 billion.

According to BPS data, China accounted for a quarter of Indonesia's export value from January to August 2023, while ASEAN countries contributed 18.78 percent.

The United States became Indonesia's third-largest export destination, accounting for 9.66 percent, followed by India (8.11 percent) and the European Union (7.01 percent).

China was the only major export destination whose share in Indonesia's exports increased compared to the previous year.

Non-oil imports for the January-August period also declined by 5.54 percent to $124.74 billion, and oil and gas imports dropped by 18.78 percent to $22.43 billion.

China remained Indonesia's largest trading partner, representing 32.65 percent of Indonesia's imports during the period. ASEAN ranked second with a 16.53 percent share, followed by Japan (8.94 percent), and the European Union (7.74 percent).

If Thailand is excluded, ASEAN’s share in Indonesian import will drop to 10.96 percent.

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