5368.0 - International Trade in Goods and Services, Australia, May 2004  
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 29/06/2004   
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MEDIA RELEASE

June 29, 2004
Embargoed: 11:30 AM (AEST)
122/2004

Australian-owned Businesses abroad earnt $126 billion in 2002-03

Australian-owned businesses abroad earnt $126 billion from sales of goods and services in 2002–03, according to preliminary experimental estimates released today by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).

Manufacturing was the dominant industry with sales of $33 billion and employing around one-third (96,209 people) of the total Australian-owned businesses abroad workforce.

Of the 3,450 Australian-owned businesses abroad:
    • 37% (or 1,276 businesses) were located in the Americas
    • 36% (1,234) were in the Asia-Pacific
    • 28% (976) were in the rest of the world (mainly in Europe).
Overseas affiliates of foreign-owned Australian based businesses earnt $16 billion and employed 61,820 staff. The majority (84%) of these businesses were located in the Asia-Pacific. This suggests that some of their Australian parent companies may have been set up as regional headquarters for the Asia-Pacific region.

These figures are part of an ABS initiative to improve globalisation statistics for Australia and come from a new Survey of Outward Foreign Affiliates Trade. Final results will be released later this year.

Further information is in the special article Australian Outward Foreign Affiliates Trade, 2002-03, published in today's release of International Trade in Goods and Services, Australia, May 2004 (cat. no. 5368.0).

Media Note: An overseas affiliate is a business that is more than 50% owned by an Australian resident parent.