A worker walks past stacks of containers at Tanjung Priok port in Jakarta, Indonesia, February 3, 2023. REUTERS/Ajeng Dinar Ulfiana
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
