In April 2023, Indonesia's goods trade balance recorded a surplus of USD3,94 billion, an increase compared to the March 2023 surplus although still lower than the April 2022 surplus [1]. This achievement extended Indonesia's record trade balance surplus to 36 consecutive months. Apart from the positive performance in trade in goods, in the future Indonesia needs to pay more attention to trade in services, both transportation, financial, tourism and services related to the creative economy. One of the sub-sectors of the creative economy that is starting to recover after the COVID-19 pandemic is music. The public's enthusiasm was so great in May 2023 to get tickets to the concert of the British band, Coldplay, which will actually only appear in November 2023, showing that the music subsector can be a driver of economic activity if managed well.
This May edition of the Trade and Industry Brief discusses Indonesia's international trade performance during April and the first quarter of 2023. This edition also discusses the potential of the creative economy, especially the music subsector. The information used in this policy brief was obtained from BPS, Bank Indonesia and other sources.
