Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Ministry of Industry has projected that the food and beverage industry will grow by up to seven percent in 2023, or reach the same level of growth as before the COVID-19 pandemic. This optimism is also supported by industry players' optimism over the current condition, Director General of Agro-industry at the ministry Putu Juli Ardika said after opening the 2023 Eid Bazaar at the Ministry of Industry's Office here on Tuesday.
"The projection is that the food and beverage (industry) can grow between 5–7 percent," he said. Ardika noted that the food and beverage industry has continued to grow significantly since the pandemic. In 2022, it recorded a growth of 4.9 percent, a significant increase compared to growth of 2.54 percent the previous year.
In addition, based on the Industrial Optimism Index (IKI), the food and beverage industry is still expanding strongly. The industrial optimism of the food and beverage industry is also deemed relatively high.
"For the next six months, food and beverage industry players stated that (they are) very optimistic; most of them, 76 percent (are optimistic of continuous expansion)," he pointed out. He also noted that the positive growth is projected to reach pre-pandemic levels. This is because the industrial utilization in the food and beverage sector has already matched the utilization before the pandemic.
"Before the pandemic, it (growth) was at around 6–7 percent for food and beverage. In terms of utilization, it is almost the same as before the pandemic," he noted.
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The Ministry of Industry recorded that the non-oil and gas processing industry contributed 16.48 percent to the national gross domestic product (GDP) in 2022. Then, the food and beverage industry contributed the most to the non-oil and gas processing industry, with its contribution pegged at 38.35 percent.
As of the fourth quarter of 2022, the export value of the food and beverage industry reached US$48.61 billion, or 16.65 percent of the total national exports. Meanwhile, the import value stood at US$16.52 billion, resulting in a surplus of US$32.09 billion in the trade balance.