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Economy of Indonesia

Economy - overview:Indonesia, a vast polyglot nation, has struggled to overcome the Asian financial crisis, and still grapples with persistent poverty and unemployment, inadequate infrastructure, endemic corruption, a fragile banking sector, a poor investment climate, and unequal resource distribution among regions. The country continues the slow work of rebuilding from the devastating December 2004 tsunami and from an earthquake in central Java in May 2006 that caused over $3 billion in damage and losses. Declining oil production and lack of new exploration investment turned Indonesia into a net oil importer in 2004. The cost of subsidizing domestic fuel placed increasing strain on the budget in 2005, and combined with indecisive monetary policy, contributed to a run on the currency in August, prompting the government to enact a 126% average fuel price hike in October. The resulting inflation and interest rate hikes dampened growth through mid-2006, while large increases in rice prices pushed millions more people under the national poverty line. Economic reformers introduced three policy packages in 2006 to improve the investment climate, infrastructure, and the financial sector, but translating them into reality has not been easy. Keys to future growth remain internal reform, building up the confidence of international and domestic investors, and strong global economic growth. Significant progress has been made in rebuilding Aceh after the devastating December 2004 tsunami, and the province now shows more economic activity than before the disaster. Unfortunately, Indonesia suffered new disasters in 2006 and early 2007 including: a major earthquake near Yogyakarta, an industrial accident in Sidoarjo, East Java that created a "mud volcano," a tsunami in South Java, and major flooding in Jakarta, all of which caused additional damages in the billions of dollars. Donors are assisting Indonesia with its disaster mitigation and early warning efforts.
GDP (purchasing power parity):$948.3 billion (2006 est.)
GDP (official exchange rate):$264.7 billion (2006 est.)
GDP - real growth rate:5.5% (2006 est.)
GDP - per capita (PPP):$3,900 (2006 est.)
GDP - composition by sector:agriculture: 13.1%
industry: 46%
services: 41% (2006 est.)
Labor force:108.2 million (2006 est.)
Labor force - by occupation:agriculture: 43.3%
industry: 18%
services: 38.7% (2004 est.)
Unemployment rate:12.5% (2006 est.)
Population below poverty line:17.8% (2006)
Household income or consumption by percentage share:lowest 10%: 3.6%
highest 10%: 28.5% (2002)
Distribution of family income - Gini index:34.8 (2004)
Inflation rate (consumer prices):13.2% (2006 est.)
Investment (gross fixed):20.3% of GDP (2006 est.)
Budget:revenues: $75.58 billion
expenditures: $79.45 billion; including capital expenditures of $NA (2006 est.)
Public debt:43.8% of GDP (2006 est.)
Agriculture - products:rice, cassava (tapioca), peanuts, rubber, cocoa, coffee, palm oil, copra; poultry, beef, pork, eggs
Industries:petroleum and natural gas, textiles, apparel, footwear, mining, cement, chemical fertilizers, plywood, rubber, food, tourism
Industrial production growth rate:2.6% (2006 est.)
Electricity - production:123.4 billion kWh (2005 est.)
Electricity - production by source:fossil fuel: 86.9%
hydro: 10.5%
nuclear: 0%
other: 2.6% (2001)
Electricity - consumption:107.7 billion kWh (2005 est.)
Electricity - exports:0 kWh (2005 est.)
Electricity - imports:0 kWh (2005 est.)
Oil - production:1.136 million bbl/day (2005 est.)
Oil - consumption:1.168 million bbl/day (2005 est.)
Oil - exports:474,000 bbl/day (2005 est.)
Oil - imports:424,000 bbl/day (2005 est.)
Oil - proved reserves:4.85 billion bbl (2006 est.)
Natural gas - production:76 billion cu m (2005 est.)
Natural gas - consumption:39.4 billion cu m (2005 est.)
Natural gas - exports:36.29 billion cu m (2005 est.)
Natural gas - imports:0 cu m (2005 est.)
Natural gas - proved reserves:2.76 trillion cu m (31 December 2005 est.)
Current account balance:$1.636 billion (2006 est.)
Exports:$102.3 billion f.o.b. (2006 est.)
Exports - commodities:oil and gas, electrical appliances, plywood, textiles, rubber
Exports - partners:Japan 19.3%, Singapore 11.8%, US 11.5%, South Korea 7.8%, China 7.7% (2006)
Imports:$77.73 billion f.o.b. (2006 est.)
Imports - commodities:machinery and equipment, chemicals, fuels, foodstuffs
Imports - partners:Singapore 30.3%, China 11.5%, Japan 9%, Malaysia 5%, Thailand 4.1%, Australia 4% (2006)
Reserves of foreign exchange and gold:$43.04 billion (2006 est.)
Debt - external:$130.4 billion (2006 est.)
Economic aid - recipient:ODA, $67 billion (2006 est.)
note: Indonesia ended 2006 with $67 billion in official foreign debt (about 25% of GDP), with Japan ($25 billion), the World Bank ($8.5 billion) and the Asian Development Bank ($8.4 billion) as the largest creditors; about $6 billion in grant assistance was pledged to rebuild Aceh after the December 2004 tsunami; President YUDHYONO ended the Consultative Group on Indonesia forum in January 2007
Currency (code):Indonesian rupiah (IDR)
Currency code:IDR
Exchange rates:Indonesian rupiah per US dollar - 9,159.3 (2006), 9,704.7 (2005), 8,938.9 (2004), 8,577.1 (2003), 9,311.2 (2002)
Fiscal year:calendar year

Indonesia Quickstats

  • Population: 234,693,997 (July 2007 est.)
  • Area: 1,919,440 sq km
  • Density: 134 /km² (84th)
  • GDP (total): US$1,038 bn[²]
  • GDP (per capita): US$4,616[³]
  • Literacy: 90.4%

Languages of Indonesia

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  • Currency: Rupiah (IDR)
  • Dial code: +62

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