JAKARTA, Investortrust.id — Indonesia recorded a $7.84 billion balance of payments deficit in 2025, driven by capital outflows amid global financial volatility, Bank Indonesia said on Friday, Feb 20, 2026 in Jakarta. The shortfall came despite a sharply narrower current account deficit, signaling mixed external performance.

The central bank said the 2025 current account deficit narrowed to $1.5 billion, or 0.1% of gross domestic product, from $8.6 billion, or 0.6% of GDP, in 2024. The improvement reflected stronger goods exports, particularly manufactured products.

“The development was influenced by a higher surplus in the goods trade balance in line with improving export performance, especially manufactured exports,” said Ramdan Denny Prakoso, Executive Director of Communication at Bank Indonesia, on Friday.

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Secondary income also posted a higher surplus, supported by rising remittances from Indonesian migrant workers. Meanwhile, the services account deficit widened due to higher telecommunications service payments in line with growth in the information and communication sector.

The primary income deficit increased on the back of higher dividend payments to foreign investors. This offset part of the gains from the trade balance.

Capital and financial flows, however, remained under pressure. The capital and financial account recorded a $4.2 billion deficit in 2025, reflecting portfolio and other investment outflows amid heightened global uncertainty.

Foreign direct investment into Indonesia declined to $14.08 billion in 2025 from $15.88 billion in 2024. The drop indicated more cautious investor sentiment over the year.

Foreign exchange reserves rose slightly to $156.5 billion at the end of December 2025 from $155.7 billion a year earlier. The reserves were equivalent to 6.2 months of imports and government external debt payments, well above the international adequacy standard of around three months of imports.

Bank Indonesia said it would continue to monitor global economic dynamics that could affect the balance of payments outlook and strengthen its policy mix response. The central bank projected the 2026 current account deficit would remain low in a range of 0.1% to 0.9% of GDP.

Fourth-Quarter Rebound

In the fourth quarter of 2025, the balance of payments swung to a $6.1 billion surplus. The turnaround was supported by a capital and financial account surplus of $8.3 billion.

“Capital and financial transactions recorded a surplus supported by foreign capital inflows in the form of direct investment,” Ramdan said.

The fourth-quarter capital and financial surplus marked a sharp improvement from an $8 billion deficit in the third quarter. Net direct investment inflows stood at $2.8 billion in the fourth quarter, lower than the $4.6 billion surplus recorded in the previous quarter.

The current account returned to a $2.5 billion deficit, or 0.7% of GDP, in the fourth quarter, compared with a $4 billion surplus, or 1.1% of GDP, in the third quarter. The shift reflected softer export performance and higher services payments.

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The non-oil and gas trade balance remained in surplus, though lower than the previous quarter, amid slowing global growth and continued commodity price contraction. The oil and gas trade deficit widened in line with stronger domestic economic activity.

The services account deficit also widened to $4.9 billion in the fourth quarter from $4.4 billion in the third quarter, partly due to a decline in foreign tourist arrivals.