Xifres de comerç exterior d'Austràlia

Foreign Trade in Figures

Australia is very open to international trade, which represents 49% of its GDP (World Bank). According to official figures, the country’s goods and services exports were led by iron ore & concentrates in 2023 (20.3% of the total), followed by coal (15.3%), natural gas (11.1%), education-related travel services (7.1%), and gold (4.2%). On the other hand, imports mostly comprised refined petroleum (8.9%), personal travel (excluding education-related) services (6.6%), passenger motor vehicles (6.4%), goods vehicles (3.1%), telecom equipment & parts (3%), and freight transport services (3%).

Australia’s main export partners in 2023 were China (32.6%), Japan (13.4%), South Korea (6.5%), India (5.3%), the U.S. (5%), and Taiwan (3.5%). The top five importing partners for Australia were China (18.9%), the U.S. (11.4%), Japan (5.4%), South Korea (4.8%), and Singapore (4.2% - data Australian Bureau of Statistics). Structurally, Australian foreign trade is highly dependent on the Chinese economic situation and the country's diplomatic relations with China. The EU is Australia's second-largest trading partner, and negotiations for a free trade agreement began in 2018. However, talks stalled in October 2023 after five years of negotiations. Following the deadlock, Brussels and Canberra shifted focus to critical raw materials. In May 2024, they signed a memorandum of understanding to enhance cooperation on sustainable critical and strategic minerals, crucial for global trade and the EU’s green and digital transitions.  On the 15th of November 2020, Australia 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% 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 the 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. In 2023, Australia exported USD 370.8 billion in goods and USD 75.3 billion in services (-10.1% and +44.6% y-o-y, respectively); whereas imports stood at USD 287.7 billion for goods and USD 74.8 billion for services (-6.9% and +12.5%, respectively – data WTO). The overall trade balance was estimated to be positive by 4.4% of GDP by the World Bank.