Balance of Payments and International Investment Position, Australia

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Balance of payments statistics on current, capital and financial transactions and the international investment position statement

Reference period
June 2023
Released
5/09/2023

Key statistics

  • The current account balance, seasonally adjusted, fell $4,787m to a surplus of $7,721m.
  • The capital and financial account deficit increased $7,775m to $17,180m.
  • The net international investment liability position was $822,241m at 30 June 2023.

International accounts overview

Key figures ($m)
 Mar 23Jun 23
Balance on current account (a)12,5087,721
Balance on goods and services (a)39,37431,422
Net primary income (a)-26,663-23,416
Capital and financial account-9,405-17,180
International investment position (b)916,320822,241
  1. Seasonally adjusted estimates in current price terms.
  2. Levels at end of period.

The current account balance (seasonally adjusted, current price) for June quarter 2023 was a surplus of $7.7b. The current account balance decreased $4.8b from the revised March quarter 2023 surplus of $12.5b.

The decrease in the current account surplus reflected the fall in prices for Australia’s key export commodities, partly offset by a drop in the net primary income deficit.

The balance on goods and services in seasonally adjusted chain volume terms is expected to contribute 0.8 percentage points to the June quarter 2023 GDP quarterly movement, assuming no significant revision to March quarter 2023 estimates of GDP.

The terms of trade decreased 7.9% to 104.7, down from 113.6 in March quarter 2023.  

The net primary income deficit decreased to $23.4b, following the $26.7b deficit in March quarter 2023.

Australia's net international investment liability position was $822.2b at June quarter 2023, a decrease of $94.1b on the revised March quarter 2023 position of $916.3b.

 

  1. Seasonally adjusted estimates in current price terms.

Current Account

Balance on current account, current prices, seasonally adjusted ($m)
 Mar 23Jun 23Mar 23 to Jun 23
Balance on current account12,5087,721-4,787
Balance on goods and services39,37431,422-7,952
Net goods40,81631,578-9,238
Net Services-1,442-1561,286
Net primary income-26,663-23,4163,247
Net secondary income-203-284-81

Terms of trade

Australia's seasonally adjusted terms of trade on net goods and services for the June quarter 2023 dropped 7.9% to 104.7, with a decrease of 8.2% in the implicit price deflator (IPD) for goods and services credits and a decrease of 0.3% in the IPD for goods and services debits.

  1. Seasonally adjusted, reference year 2020-21=100.

Relationship between IPD, EPI and IPI

Differences between the IPD and International Trade Price Indexes can arise due to a number of methodological factors, including differences in pricing points, timing, coverage and weights.

Price comparison (QoQ % change)
 Implicit price deflators (a)(b)Implicit price deflators (a)(b)Chain Laspeyres Indexes (a)(b)International Trade Price Indexes (c)
 Seasonally AdjustedOriginalOriginalOriginal
Goods exports-9.3-10.2-9.8-8.5
Services exports0.60.60.7na
Goods imports-1.0-0.3-0.5-0.8
Services imports2.31.60.9na
  1. Reference year 2020-21 = 100.
  2. Movements in indexes are calculated from unrounded data.
  3. Source: International Trade Price Indexes, Australia.
  1. Seasonally adjusted, reference year 2020-21=100.
  2. Source: International Trade Price Indexes, Australia.

Balance on goods and services

In seasonally adjusted chain volume terms, the balance on goods and services was a surplus of $19,548m, a rise of $4,505m on the revised March quarter 2023 surplus of $15,043m.

  1. Seasonally adjusted, reference year 2020-21=100.

Exports of goods (credits)

In seasonally adjusted terms at current prices, goods credits fell $10,523m (7.0%) to $139,452m, with volumes up 2.5% and prices down 9.3%.

 

Goods credits, price and volume change, seasonally adjusted - June quarter 2023
 Current prices ($m)Current prices (%)Chain volume measures (a)(b)(%)Implicit price deflators (a)(b)(%)
Exports of goods-10,523-7.02.5-9.3
 Rural goods-574-3.10.9-4.0
 Non-rural goods-10,811-8.72.6-10.9
 Net exports of goods under merchanting-45-45.9-42.8-5.4
 Non-monetary gold(c)90713.86.96.4
  1. Reference year 2020-21 = 100.
  2. Movements in indexes are calculated from unrounded data.
  3. This component is not seasonally adjusted.

Rural goods

Rural goods (a)
 Mar 23 ($m)Jun 23 ($m)Mar 23 to Jun 23 ($m)Mar 23 to Jun 23 (%)
Rural goods18,59018,016-574-3.1
 Meat and meat preparations4,3204,4681483.4
 Cereal grains and cereal preparations5,8155,732-83-1.4
 Wool and sheepskins786834486.1
 Other rural(b)7,6696,983-686-8.9
  1. Seasonally adjusted estimates in current price terms.
  2. For all time periods, estimates for sugar, sugar preparations and honey are included in Other non-rural.

Non-rural goods

Non-rural goods (a)
 Mar 23 ($m)Jun 23 ($m)Mar 23 to Jun 23 ($m)Mar 23 to Jun 23 (%)
Non-rural goods124,710113,899-10,811-8.7
 Metal ores and minerals(b)49,59842,577-7,021-14.2
 Coal, coke and briquettes(b)30,07627,547-2,529-8.4
 Other mineral fuels(b)26,05324,208-1,845-7.1
 Metals (excl. non-monetary gold)3,8073,794-13-0.3
 Machinery3,3653,424591.8
 Transport equipment1,1191,150312.8
 Other manufactures6,7146,8751612.4
 Other non-rural (incl. sugar and beverages)(c)3,1603,59943913.9
 Goods procured in ports by carriers(d)819727-92-11.2
  1. Seasonally adjusted estimates current price terms.
  2. Separate seasonally adjusted factors for current price and chain volume measures are applied.
  3. For all time periods, estimates for sugar, sugar preparations and honey are included in Other non-rural.
  4. In using these seasonally adjusted series, care should be exercised because of the difficulties associated with reliably estimating the seasonal pattern.
  1. Seasonally adjusted estimates in current price terms.

Imports of goods (debits)

In seasonally adjusted terms at current prices, goods debits fell $1,284m (1.2%) to $107,875m, with volumes down 0.2% and prices down 1.0%. 

Goods debits, price and volume change, seasonally adjusted - June quarter 2023
 Current prices ($m)Current prices (%)Chain volume measures (a)(b)(%)Implicit price deflators (a)(b)(%)
Total Goods Imports-1,284-1.2-0.2-1.0
 Consumption goods-312-0.9-1.10.2
 Capital goods-274-1.0-3.32.3
 Intermediate and other merchandise goods-841-1.93.0-4.7
 Non-monetary gold(c)1436.7-0.47.2
  1. Reference year 2020-21 = 100.
  2. Movements in indexes are calculated from unrounded data.
  3. This component is not seasonally adjusted.

Consumption goods

Consumption goods(a)(b)
 Mar 23 ($m)Jun 23 ($m)Mar 23 to Jun 23 ($m)Mar 23 to Jun 23 (%)
Consumption goods-34,870-34,558-312-0.9
 Food and beverages, mainly for consumption-4,884-5,1262425.0
 Household electrical items-1,844-1,718-126-6.8
 Non-industrial transport equipment-9,880-9,657-223-2.3
 Textiles, clothing and footwear-5,686-5,492-194-3.4
 Toys, books and leisure goods-2,108-1,984-124-5.9
 Consumption goods n.e.s.-10,468-10,5811131.1
  1. Seasonally adjusted estimates in current price terms.
  2. For sign conventions, see the Methodology page.

Capital goods

Capital goods(a)(b)
 Mar 23 ($m)Jun 23 ($m)Mar 23 to Jun 23 ($m)Mar 23 to Jun 23 (%)
Capital goods-26,844-26,570-274-1.0
 Machinery and industrial equipment-9,041-9,2642232.5
 ADP equipment-3,173-3,085-88-2.8
 Telecommunications equipment-4,805-3,815-990-20.6
 Civil aircraft and confidentialised items(c)(d)-1,043-1,44039738.1
 Industrial transport equipment n.e.s.-4,628-4,7811533.3
 Capital goods n.e.s.(e)-4,153-4,185320.8
  1. Seasonally adjusted estimates in current price terms.
  2. For sign conventions, see the Methodology page.
  3. From September quarter 2008, commodities subject to a 'no commodity details' or 'no value details' restriction are included in Civil aircraft and confidentialised items. For earlier periods, commodities subject to a 'no commodity details' or 'no value details' restriction are included in Other merchandise goods.
  4. This component is not seasonally adjusted.
  5. In using these seasonally adjusted series, care should be exercised because of the difficulties associated with reliably estimating the seasonal pattern.

Intermediate and other merchandise goods

Intermediate and other merchandise goods(a)(b)
 Mar 23 ($m)Jun 23 ($m)Mar 23 to Jun 23 ($m)Mar 23 to Jun 23 (%)
Intermediate and other merchandise goods-45,322-44,481-841-1.9
 Food and beverages, mainly for industry-727-658-69-9.5
 Primary industrial supplies n.e.s.(c)-555-67411921.4
 Fuels and lubricants(d)(e)-14,969-13,952-1,017-6.8
 Parts for transport equipment-4,244-4,4121684.0
 Parts for ADP equipment-221-185-36-16.3
 Other parts for capital goods-5,987-6,1031161.9
 Organic and inorganic chemicals-1,569-1,309-260-16.6
 Paper and paperboard-675-696213.1
 Textile yarn and fabrics-415-406-9-2.2
 Iron and steel-1,001-1,18618518.5
 Plastics-1,378-1,390120.9
 Processed industrial supplies n.e.s.-13,117-12,906-211-1.6
 Other merchandise goods(f)(g)-169-28011165.7
 Goods procured in ports by carriers(d)-295-324299.8
  1. Seasonally adjusted estimates current price terms.
  2. For sign conventions, see the Methodology page.
  3. From September quarter 2010, this component is not seasonally adjusted.
  4. Prior to March quarter 2010 this component is not seasonally adjusted.
  5. Separate seasonally adjusted factors for current price and chain volume measures are applied.
  6. From September quarter 2008, commodities subject to a 'no commodity details' or 'no value details' restriction are included in Civil aircraft and confidentialised items. For earlier periods, commodities subject to a 'no commodity details' or 'no value details' restriction are included in Other merchandise goods.
  7. From September quarter 1981, this component is not seasonally adjusted.

Services

Services exports, price and volume change, seasonally adjusted - June quarter 2023
 Current prices ($m)Current prices (%)Chain volume measures (a)(b)(%)Implicit price deflators (a)(b)(%)
Exports of services3,12812.812.10.6
 Manufacturing services on physical inputs owned by others----
 Maintenance and repair services n.i.e.-5-38.5-38.80.6
 Transport1126.55.60.8
 Travel2,69319.218.50.6
 Other services3283.83.20.6

- nil or rounded to zero (including null cells)

  1. Reference year 2020-21 = 100.
  2. Movements in indexes are calculated from unrounded data.
Services imports, price and volume change, seasonally adjusted - June quarter 2023
 Current prices ($m)Current prices (%)Chain volume measures (a)(b)(%)Implicit price deflators (a)(b)(%)
Imports of services1,8427.14.72.3
 Manufacturing services on physical inputs owned by others----
 Maintenance and repair services n.i.e.6757.351.14.1
 Transport1912.84.4-1.5
 Travel1,23815.011.23.4
 Other services3453.3-0.84.1

- nil or rounded to zero (including null cells)

  1. Reference year 2020-21 = 100.
  2. Movements in indexes are calculated from unrounded data.

Income

Net primary income deficit narrowed by $3,247m to $23,416m in the June quarter 2023. 

  1.  Seasonally adjusted estimates in current price terms.

Primary income credits

Primary income credits, in seasonally adjusted, current price terms increased $810m (3.7%). The key components contributing to the increase were:

  • Portfolio investment assets - income; up by $597m (7.6%)
  • Portfolio investment assets - interest; up by $168m (4.8%)

Partly offset by:

  • Direct investment assets – income on equity and investment fund shares; down by $155m (1.9%)

Primary income debits

Primary income debits, in seasonally adjusted, current price terms fell $2,437m (5.0%). The key components contributing to the decline were:

  • Direct investment liabilities – income on equity and investment fund shares; down $3,497m (16.4%)

Partly offset by:

  • Portfolio investment liabilities - income; up $329m (3.4%)
  • Portfolio investment liabilities - interest; up $332m (3.0%)
  • Other investment liabilities; up $313m (12.3%)

Secondary income

In current price seasonally adjusted terms, the net secondary income deficit rose $81m (39.9%) to $284m.

Secondary income credits rose $54m (1.7%) and Secondary income debits rose $135m (4.0%) in the June quarter 2023.

Capital and Financial Account

The capital and financial account recorded a deficit of $17.2b during the June 2023 quarter, mainly driven by the financial account deficit of $16.9b.

The financial account fell due to a $2.7b net outflow of equity and a $14.2b net outflow of debt.

Capital and financial account ($m)
 Sep 22Dec 22Mar 23Jun 23Mar 23 to
Jun 23
Capital account-239-194-200-286-86
 Acquisitions/disposals of non-produced non-financial assets-11-14-13-70-57
  Acquisitions/disposals of non-produced non-financial assets credits-----
  Acquisitions/disposals of non-produced non-financial assets debits-14-13-70-570
 Capital transfers-228-180-187-216-29
  Capital transfers credits-----
  Capital transfers debits-228-180-187-216-29
Financial account5,288-8,614-9,205-16,894-7,689
 Direct investment4,413-20,8982,12759-2,068
  Direct investment assets-27,879-17,706-10,7711,57912,350
  Direct investment liabilities32,292-3,19212,898-1,520-14,418
 Portfolio investment8,03917,741870-19,673-20,543
  Portfolio investment assets3,729-14,717-24,234-4,64619,588
  Portfolio investment liabilities4,31032,45825,104-15,026-40,130
 Financial derivatives5,990-9,970-5,476-4,612864
  Financial derivatives assets117,83096,24589,08564,817-24,268
  Financial derivatives liabilities-111,840-106,215-94,561-69,42925,132
 Other investment-11,4335,468-3,9287,22311,151
  Other investment assets-5,55414,3667,08124,46717,386
  Other investment liabilities-5,879-8,898-11,010-17,244-6,234
 Reserve assets-1,721-956-2,7981102,908
 Net errors and omissions3,810-4,803-7503,1933,943

- nil or rounded to zero (including null cells)

International Investment Position

Australia's net IIP liability position was $822.2b in June 2023, a decrease of $94.1b on the revised 31 March 2023 figure of $916.3b. Australia's net foreign equity asset position increased $64.1b to $347.3b at 30 June 2023. Australia's net foreign debt liability position decreased $30b to $1,169.5b.

International investment position, by net foreign equity and net foreign debt ($m)
 Position at beginning of periodTransactionsPrice changesExchange rate changesOther adjustmentsPosition at end of period
Net International Investment Position
 Dec‑22908,376-8,61421,22719,679-4,961935,707
 Mar‑23935,707-9,20522,332-23,543-8,970916,320
 Jun‑23916,320-16,894-72,275-1,952-2,959822,241
Net Foreign Equity
 Dec‑22-260,102-29,59425,37926,847-9,127-246,597
 Mar‑23-246,5974,300-1,932-27,673-11,271-283,173
 Jun‑23-283,173-2,688-50,609-5,335-5,458-347,264
Net Foreign Debt
 Dec‑221,168,47920,980-4,152-7,1684,1661,182,304
 Mar‑231,182,304-13,50524,2634,1292,3021,199,493
 Jun‑231,199,493-14,205-21,6653,3832,4991,169,505

Data downloads

Time series spreadsheets

Data files

Supplementary Information

Value adjustments

Goods credits data presented in this publication are based on information provided by exporters to the Department of Home Affairs (Home Affairs). At the time of initial reporting to Home Affairs, final transaction prices are not known for some commodities. Final quantity and/or unit price information is updated progressively as exporters revise the information provided to Home Affairs.

For commodities such as iron ore and coal, newly negotiated contract prices are not fully reflected in data first reported to Home Affairs. When additional information on quantity and/or unit price for these commodities is available, the ABS may adjust the data to reflect actual transaction values.

Iron ore adjustments are applied on an international merchandise trade basis at the Australian Harmonized Export Commodity Classification (AHECC) level. Coal, coke and briquettes are adjusted on a balance of payments basis in original current price terms. When final transaction prices become available adjusted estimates are replaced with these data.

In most instances, transfer of ownership occurs when goods cross the customs frontier. In certain circumstances the ownership of large value capital expenditure items occurs prior to the items crossing the customs frontier. The ABS adjusts the relevant balance of payments series to record the timing when transfer of ownership takes place.

Exports on an international merchandise trade basis

Iron ore (in original terms)

  • Adjustments have been applied to iron ore lumps in the March quarter 2023 (+$20m), and June quarter 2023 (+$40m).
  • Adjustments have been applied to iron ore fines in the March quarter 2023 (-$75m) and June quarter 2023 (+$150m). 
  • When actual final transaction prices become available estimates are replaced with these data.

 

Goods on a balance of payments basis

Coal (in original terms)

  • Adjustments have been applied to coal, coke and briquettes in the balance of payments series for the March quarter 2023 (+$30m) and the June quarter 2023 (+$800m). All previous adjustments have been removed. 

Metal ores and minerals (in original terms) 

  • Adjustments have been applied to metal ores and minerals in the balance of payments series for the June quarter 2023 (-$711m). 

Other mineral fuels (in original terms) 

  • Adjustments have been applied to other mineral fuels in the balance of payments series for the June quarter 2023 (-$473m).

Capital expenditure (in original terms)

  • The balance of payments goods debits component capital goods n.e.s. includes an estimate of expenditure on capital goods that have changed ownership but have not yet crossed the customs frontier.

 

    Revisions

    Table 28 summarises revisions, in original current price terms, since the last issue of this publication.

      Incorporation of the latest survey and administrative data has resulted in revisions to the current account series back to the September quarter 2019. In original current price terms, these revisions have increased the current account surplus for March quarter 2023 by $669m.

      The International Investment Position (IIP) has been revised back to the March quarter 2006 across a range of key aggregates. These revisions have increased Australia's net IIP liability by $54,005m to a net liability position of $916,320m at 31 March 2023. The financial account deficit has been revised down $3,617m to $9,205m at 31 March 2023.

      Seasonally adjusted series have been revised due to the incorporation of revised estimates and the incorporation of estimates for the latest quarter.

      Data in this issue aligns with the data in the June quarter 2023 issue of Australian National Accounts: National Income, Expenditure and Product to be released on 6 September 2023.

      Economic conditions

      CountryMSCI quarter-on-quarter percentage change (a)(%)AUD exchange rate quarter-on-quarter percentage change (b)(%)
      Australia0.22na
      United States of America8.29-1.22
      United Kingdom-1.63-3.05
      Europe1.40-0.93
      China-9.904.40
      Japan15.417.56
      Singapore-6.120.88
      India11.62-1.41
      New Zealand-4.271.87

      OECD quarterly growth rates for select countries can be found through the following link: https://stats.oecd.org/index.aspx?queryid=350.

      1. MSCI data based on local currency except for Europe which is based on $USD. MSCI data from https://www.msci.com/.
      2. Exchange rates data from RBA: https://www.rba.gov.au/statistics/historical-data.html#exchange-rates.

      COVID-19 in this publication

      Suspension of trend estimates

      Suspension of trend estimates

      The trend series attempts to measure underlying behaviour in international trade activity. In the short term, this measurement will be significantly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent changes to regular patterns in international trade resulting from it. If the trend estimates in this publication were to be calculated without fully accounting for this unusual event, they would provide a misleading view of underlying international trade activity.

      It may be some time before the underlying trend in international trade activity can be accurately estimated. The trend series has therefore been suspended for national and state services credits and debits from March 2019 and will be reinstated when more certainty emerges.

      The trend series for national and state goods credits and debits and for the primary and secondary income series have been reviewed and reinstated.

      Previous catalogue number

      This release previously used catalogue number 5302.0.

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