Below is a list with tagged columns and company profiles.
Latest Reports Retail Sales
In this article we take a look at the strength of the Indonesian economy by assessing a variety of macroeconomic indicators such as retail sales, consumer confidence, and credit growth.
At the start of June 2022, the World Bank decided to cut its forecast for Indonesia’s economic growth in full-year 2022 from the level of 5.2 percent year-on-year (y/y) to 5.1 percent (y/y). Do we need to be concerned?
While the Indonesian economy has been recovering ever since the second quarter of 2021, there is some concern that Indonesia will experience a small hiccup in Q1-2022 as the Indonesian government felt the need to tighten its social and business restrictions (to PPKM Level 3) in February 2022 due to the rapid spread of Omicron in society. It is a decision that should somewhat limit economic activity.
Although in some respects Indonesia has exited the COVID-19 crisis (for example, the economic recession ended in Q2-2021, and the number of new COVID-19 cases and deaths eased significantly), the road ahead is uncertain and full of challenges.
After a whopping 16 straight months of contraction (on an annual basis), the latest retail sales data (released by Bank Indonesia) showed that retail sales in Indonesia jumped 15.6 percent year-on-year (y/y) in April 2021. That is a strong rebound!
The risky decision of Indonesia’s central government and regional governments to (gradually) ease the various self-imposed social and business restrictions (that had been imposed in April 2020) has caused changes in economic activity in Indonesia, particularly in consumer behavior, starting from June 2020.
A survey of Indonesia's central bank (Bank Indonesia) shows that retail sales have grown strongly in December 2018. The growth pace was recorded at 7.7 percent year-on-year (y/y) in the last month of 2018, strengthening from an annual growth rate of 3.4 percent (y/y) in the preceding month.
The extended Eid al-Fitr holiday is now over and everyone should be back at work per Monday (25/06). Indonesia's capital city of Jakarta is also, again, plagued by heavy traffic congestion. In fact, traffic congestion should be slightly worse than before the holiday because it is estimated that more than 72,000 newcomers settled in Jakarta after this year's Eid al-Fitr holiday.
Approaching the end of the year, retail companies in Indonesia are now starting to prepare for the upcoming Christmas and New Year celebrations in late-December. Indonesia has two traditional peaks of rising consumer demand (hence rising inflationary pressures): (1) Ramadan/Idul Fitri festivities and (2) Christmas/New Year celebrations.
Indonesia's retail sales declined in July 2017 in line with the return to normal consumption patterns after the Ramadan and Idul Fitri celebrations ended. This is reflected in Bank Indonesia's retail sales index that showed a 3.3 percent decline year-on-year (y/y), after a 6.3 percent (y/y) increase in the preceding month. The decline in Indonesia's retail sales occurred in both food and non-food groups.
Latest Columns Retail Sales
In another article in this report we discuss the remarkable discrepancy between the strong (official) gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate of 5.12 percent year-on-year (y/y) in Q2-2025 and Indonesia’s somewhat lackluster macroeconomic data in that same quarter. This discrepancy not only surprised many, but it also made many a bit suspicious about the accuracy of the Q2-2025 GDP data that were released by the Statistical Agency of Indonesia (Badan Pusat Statistik, BPS).
We are gradually approaching the first 100 days in office of the new administration in Indonesia (under the leadership of President Prabowo Subianto). Does that show in the latest economic indicators?
As usual, we devote one article to the latest available (key) macroeconomic data in an effort to assess the state of the Indonesian economy. In the previous article in this month’s report, we discussed the 4.95 percent year-on-year (y/y) GDP growth rate of Indonesia in Q3-2024. In the article you are reading right now, we’re going to take a closer look whether the country’s economic growth can accelerate (or decelerate) in the last quarter of the year.
Before we zoom in on Indonesia, it is worth taking a closer look at the latest reports released by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). In its World Economic Outlook (released in October 2024), the IMF stated that global economic growth is expected to remain stable, yet underwhelming, at 3.2 percent year-on-year (y/y) in 2024.
Before we take a look at the latest macroeconomic data from Indonesia, first there is some good news to share as both the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and Asian Development Bank (ADB) decided to revise up their projections for the Indonesian economy in 2023.
As usual, we take a look at a number of macroeconomic indicators to assess the state of the Indonesian economy ahead of the release of Q2-2023 gross domestic product (GDP) data (we expect Indonesia’s Statistical Agency, or BPS, to release the data in the second week of August 2023).
The holy Islamic fasting month (Ramadan) and the weeklong celebrations that mark the end of the Ramadan (known as Idul Fitri or Lebaran in Indonesia) is important for the Indonesian economy as it is a period when people consume more than usual.
Despite the ongoing challenges (that mainly originate from abroad), there is reason to be optimistic about Indonesia’s economic growth in 2022 as the COVID-19 threat has eased.
There are reasons to be optimistic about Indonesia’s economic activity in the fourth quarter of 2021. Obviously, the underlying reason being that new confirmed COVID-19 infections have not been far from zero in Indonesia throughout the final quarter of the year. As a consequence, the government of Indonesia did not need to impose tough restrictions, hence economic activity is allowed to blossom.
There are signs that household consumption in Indonesia is rebounding ahead of this year's Idul Fitri holiday. This would be a great boost for Indonesia's overall economic growth as private consumption accounts for around 57 percent of the nation's total economic growth. One of the reasons why Indonesia's gross domestic product (GDP) growth has been stuck around the 5 percent (y/y) mark in recent years is subdued household consumption (which has fallen slightly below the 5 percent y/y mark).
Associated businesses Retail Sales
