Jakarta. Indonesia has been importing more vehicles and auto parts during the first half of this year, government data shows.

The Central Statistics Agency (BPS) recently reported that Indonesia’s vehicle and auto parts imports totaled $5.35 billion between January and June, up by 31.29 percent year on year (yoy). Imports were around $4.07 billion in the first half of 2024.

From a volume standpoint, Indonesia had bought 800,000 tons of foreign-made vehicles and autoparts in January-June 2025, an increase of 38.21 percent yoy compared to 580,000 tons last year. However, data indicated that Indonesia might be spending less to bring in all these automobiles despite the greater volumes. The average unit per value was around $7.1 million a ton in the first half of 2024, but had dropped 5.92 percent yoy to $6.68 million per ton the following year. 

BPS also attributed the higher capital good imports to the bigger automotive purchases.

“We are witnessing a 20.90 percent yoy rise in overall imports of capital goods, which totaled $23 billion in the first half of 2025. … Vehicles and auto parts had led to this increase,” Pudji Ismartini, a deputy at BPS, recently told reporters.

Indonesia is home to a number of foreign-backed car assembly plants. Toyota Motor Manufacturing Indonesia, the Japanese carmaker’s local arm, already has five factories, of which some of the units are meant for export markets. Amidst greater imports, Indonesia witnessed a 7 percent yoy increase in its car exports in the first half of 2025, national automotive association Gaikindo data showed. Indonesia had exported 233,648 completely built-up cars -- or sold them in an already assembled state -- over the said period. The cars were shipped to over 90 countries.