Indonesia GDP growth races to nine-year high

• Feb 07, 2023

JAKARTA: Indonesia’s economic growth picked up last year, spurred by the removal of pandemic-related restrictions and a global commodity boom that lifted exports to a record high, even as growth slowed in the final quarter, according to official data.

South-East Asia’s largest economy expanded 5.31% in 2022, Statistics Indonesia data showed, its best annual growth rate in nine years, and faster than the 5.29% expected in a Reuters poll.

In the fourth quarter, gross domestic product expanded 5.01% on an annual basis, compared with 4.84% growth predicted by the poll and 5.72% in the previous three months.

Indonesia removed most movement restrictions last year after daily Covid-19 cases dropped and vaccination rates rose, driving up household consumption.

All remaining measures were lifted at the end of the year.

The resource-rich country, a major supplier of thermal coal, palm oil and nickel, also benefited from soaring commodity prices in the aftermath of the Russia-Ukraine war that began in February. — Reuters