Sector
Mining
Indonesia, a country rich in natural resources, boasts a mining sector that is undeniably one of its leading sectors. With vast reserves of mineral and non-mineral mining resources, the country stands as a global powerhouse in the mining industry. As of 2022, Indonesia’s mining industry contributed Rp2.3 quadrillion to the national GDP, accounting for 12.22 percent.
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Mining
Indonesia, a country rich in natural resources, boasts a mining sector that is undeniably one of its leading sectors. With vast reserves of mineral and non-mineral mining resources, the country stands as a global powerhouse in the mining industry. As of 2022, Indonesia’s mining industry contributed Rp2.3 quadrillion to the national GDP, accounting for 12.22 percent.
Mining flourishes across various regions of the country, each contributing to the nation’s economy. It is present in regions such as South Sumatra, Riau, Riau Islands, Bangka-Belitung, Central Kalimantan, East Kalimantan, South Kalimantan, and North Kalimantan. Additionally, mining is also prevalent in Southeast Sulawesi, Central Sulawesi, West Nusa Tenggara, North Maluku, Papua, and West Papua.
Indonesia’s wealth of mineral resources offers a wide variety of materials available for mining. From abundant reserves of gold, bauxite, tin, and copper concentrates to nickel ore, the country’s rich mineral resources signify significant potential for economic growth and development. In addition, Indonesia is also rich in coal mining, with its abundant coal reserves catering to the energy needs of both domestic and international markets.
The country's mining sector thrives on these resources. In 2023, mineral resources such as bauxite reached a production of 28 million tons, gold at 85 thousand kilograms, tin concentrate at 57 thousand metric tons, copper concentrate at 3 million metric tons, along with nickel ore at 98 million metric tons.3 Meanwhile, Indonesia’s coal production reached 775.2 million tons in 2023, almost double than ten years earlier when coal production stood at 421 million tons.
Additionally, Indonesia is home to oil and gas exploration and exploitation, although its output has been dwindling. Once an exporting country of oil and gas, Indonesia has transitioned into a net importer of these commodities since 2008 when consumption surpassed outputs, which stood at around 1 million barrels per day (bpd). In the first semester of 2023, Indonesia’s oil output stood at 615 bpd.
Subsequently, the government has worked hard to reverse the trend of falling oil output and has set a target to restore oil lifting to 1 million bpd in 2030, alongside a gas production target of 12 billion standard cubic feet per day (BSCFD). As of January 2023, Indonesia’s documented oil reserves were 2.41 billion barrels, and its natural gas reserves stood at 35.5 trillion cubic feet.
As for investments, Indonesia secured US$30.3 billion for the energy and mining sector in 2023, marking an 11 percent increase from the previous year. That same year, the oil and gas sector led the way,
achieving US$15.6 billion in investments, followed by mineral and coal at US$7.46 billion, electricity at US$5.8 billion, and renewable energy at US$1.5 billion.
Latest News
Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) has temporarily frozen Indonesia’s February market status review and warned of a potential downgrade from Emerging Market to Frontier Market, citing persistent structural and governance weaknesses in the equity market. Key concerns include opaque ownership structures, limited disclosure of ultimate beneficial owners, and significant price distortions in several heavily weighted stocks, particularly conglomerate- and state-owned enterprise-linked names, which have pushed the Jakarta Composite Index (JCI) higher without corresponding improvements in fundamentals.
MSCI has also pointed to weak enforcement against market manipulation and coordinated price formation, which it views as undermining market integrity and investability.
The announcement immediately rattled markets. After MSCI froze rebalancing due to investability concerns, the JCI plunged 7.35 percent to close at 8,320.56 on Jan. 28, falling well below the 8,880–8,780 support range ahead of the market open. In response, the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX) and the Financial Services Authority (OJK) stressed their ongoing coordination with MSCI, highlighting steps to improve transparency, including the publication of more comprehensive free-float data and continued engagement to address MSCI’s feedback rather than dismiss it.
Concerns over price manipulation are not new to policymakers. In October 2025, Finance Minister Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa announced that the government was intensifying efforts to crack down on and prosecute individuals involved in market manipulation, commonly referred to as “pump-and-dump” schemes. At the time, the IDX requested fiscal incentives to support the market, but Purbaya declined to grant them immediately, arguing that incentives should only follow a cleanup of manipulative practices to ensure adequate protection for retail investors.
The stakes are high. MSCI is a global index provider whose country classifications, developed, emerging, or frontier, serve as benchmarks for trillions of dollars in active and passive investment funds worldwide. Indonesia’s inclusion in the MSCI Emerging Markets Index determines its eligibility for investment by a large pool of institutional investors whose mandates are strictly tied to that classification.
The MSCI episode has, unsurprisingly, intensified a growing perception among market participants that Indonesia’s financial watchdog has failed to keep pace with the mounting structural risks in the equity market. For years, foreign investors have raised concerns over selective enforcement, tolerance of extreme price movements in illiquid stocks, and the absence of credible deterrents against coordinated trading and insider-driven speculation.
MSCI’s explicit reference to weak enforcement and price distortions has now effectively elevated these critiques to the international stage, lending them far greater weight than domestic complaints from analysts or minority shareholders.
These concerns have been further amplified by the recent decision of OJK chief commissioner Mahendra Siregar to step down, with rumors from investors circulating that Mahendra had not been prepared to manage the capital market.
