West Java Records 0.05 Percent Deflation as Staple Food Prices Fall

A decline in the prices of staple food commodities pushed West Java into month-on-month deflation of 0.05 percent in July 2026. Among the staples that became cheaper were shallots, red chillies, bird’s eye chillies, farm chicken eggs and farm chicken meat.

The head of Statistics Indonesia (BPS) in West Java, Margaretha Ari Anggorowati, said the fall in staple commodity prices was caused by main harvests in several producing regions. Examples include the shallot harvest in Bandung Regency, Garut Regency and areas outside West Java.

“Deflation was also caused by falling demand for chicken meat and farm chicken eggs during the school holiday period because the Free Nutritious Meals (MBG) programme was not running,” Margaretha said at the release of the official statistics for West Java Province on Monday (3/8/2026).

She detailed that the commodities contributing most to month-on-month deflation in July 2026 were shallots (0.09 percent), red chillies (0.07 percent), gold jewellery (0.07 percent), bird’s eye chillies (0.05 percent) and farm chicken eggs (0.04 percent).

Meanwhile, the commodities contributing most to month-on-month inflation in July 2026 were petrol (0.09 percent), cucumbers (0.02 percent), primary school education (0.02 percent), garlic (0.02 percent) and cars (0.01 percent).

On a year-on-year basis, West Java recorded inflation of 2.72 percent in July 2026. The commodities with the largest year-on-year contributions to inflation in July 2026 were gold jewellery (0.62 percent), petrol (0.31 percent), cooking oil (0.16 percent), rice (0.13 percent) and machine-made kretek cigarettes (0.09 percent).

At the same event, BPS West Java also presented developments in the province’s exports and imports. Margaretha said West Java’s trade balance recorded a surplus of USD 13.79 billion between January and June 2026.

This was because West Java achieved exports of USD 19.60 billion, larger than imports of USD 5.81 billion. The value of West Java’s exports over the period rose 5.11 percent compared with the same period in 2025.

The largest markets for non-oil and gas exports from January to June 2026 were the United States, at USD 3.26 billion, followed by the Philippines with USD 1.74 billion and Japan with USD 1.40 billion, with the three together accounting for 32.95 percent of exports.