Bali’s economic difficulties during the pandemic appear to be a thing of the past after the Central Statistics Authority (BPS) revealed the island’s rapid growth in its latest report.
According to BPS, the third quarter of this year saw an increase in Bali’s economy of 8.09 percent year over year, which was larger than the 3.05 percent growth seen in the second quarter. Bali’s GDP expanded by 1.43 percent in the first quarter of this year.
Margo Yuwono, the head of BPS, cited international events on the resort island as one of the reasons for the economy’s rebound. The G20 Summit, the largest of these gatherings, is being held in Bali this month.
“The main source of [economic] growth in Bali came from accommodations, food and beverages, as well as transportation and storages,” he said in a press conference.
“The third quarter of 2022 [saw] growth because of the improvement of [people’s] mobility and foreign travelers coming in due to international events.”
Margo pointed out that the economy in Bali is not at the same level as before the pandemic. He pointed out that in the third quarter of 2021, there was an economic decline of 2.93 percent. In the third quarter of 2020, Bali’s economy had declined by 12.36 percent.
However, it is safe to assume that Bali’s recovery is heading in the right direction. After the reopening of Ngurah Rai International Airport for international flights in February 2022, BPS also saw a jump in international arrivals.
Compared to the meager 386 international departures registered during the same period last year, BPS recorded 860,054 departures in the third quarter of 2022. For domestic flights, BPS reported 1,049,675 departures in the third quarter of 2022, about four times the 211,929 departures reported in the same period last year.