Xifres de comerç exterior d'Austràlia

Foreign Trade in Figures

Australia is very open to international trade, which represented 40% of its GDP in 2022 (World Bank, 2023). It had the 12th freest economy in the world in 2022, placing its trade freedom as one of the highest worldwide (The Heritage Foundation, 2023). The country mainly exports iron ores slag and ash (38% of total exports), mineral fuels, oils, distillation products (28%), gold and other precious stones, metals, coins and pearls (5.5%), meat and edible meat offal (3.2%). On the other hand, its main imports include machinery (15%), Vehicles other than railway and tramway (13%), Electrical and electronic equipment (11%), Mineral fuels, oils, distillation products (10%) and pharmaceutical products with 4,2% of total imports (Trading Economics, 2023).

Its main partners are China, Japan, South Korea, India, the USA, New Zealand, and Vietnam (World Bank, 2023). Structurally, Australian foreign trade is highly dependent on the Chinese economic situation and the country's diplomatic relations with China. As a bloc, the EU is Australia's second largest trading partner. As such, the European Union and Australia opened free trade negotiations in 2018 and have held 13 rounds of talks. But a deal has been held up by EU concerns over Australia's climate change commitments and a bust-up over Canberra's cancellation of a submarine contract with France in 2021. Australia is pushing to seal a free trade agreement with EU authorities in the first half of 2023. The country is also negotiating trade agreements with the Gulf Cooperation Council, India, Peru, Indonesia, and Hong Kong. On the 15th of November 2020 Australia has also signed the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) with 14 other Indo-Pacific countries. This free trade agreement is the largest trade deal in history, covering 30 per cent of the global economy. It includes the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN : Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam) and ASEAN’s free trade agreement partners (Australia, China, India, Japan, New Zealand and Republic of Korea). The RCEP covers goods, services, investment, economic and technical cooperation. It also creates new rules for electronic commerce, intellectual property, government procurement, competition, and small and medium sized enterprises.

The country's trade balance was characterised by a structural deficit until 2007, but since then the country has been alternating between periods of surplus and deficit. The latest trade data from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and Investment (DFAT) confirmed that the Australian trade sector is highly resilient and performed strongly (Source: DFAT Trade and Investment publications and articles, accessed January 2022). Australia achieved a record high surplus of over A$75 billion in 2020, in terms of the trade balance in goods and services, an increase on the previous two years with A$68 billion in 2019 and A$22 billion in 2018. This record was again broken in 2021 with 91.95 billion AUD (Source: DFAT Trade and Investment publications and articles, accessed January 2023). Most of this trade is with Asia. 12 of Australia’s 15 largest trading partners are within the Asia region.

In 2021, Australia exported AUD 344.82 billion of goods and services (USD 240,8 billion), a 7,4% increase compared to the previous year (WTO, 2023). Seasonally adjusted, as of November 2022, Australia's trade balance was $13,201 millions (DFTA, 2023).