EXPLANATORY NOTES

INTRODUCTION

1 These spreadsheets contain data on Australia's international trade in services on a balance of payments basis. Annual services data by State, and by Country are released twice yearly. Calendar year data are usually released following the March issue of International Trade in Goods and Services, Australia (cat. no. 5368.0) and financial year data are usually released following the September issue.

2 Aggregates of the monthly and detailed quarterly services data are available in International Trade in Goods and Services, Australia (cat. no. 5368.0).


CONCEPTS, SOURCES AND METHODS

3 The conceptual framework used in compiling Australia's balance of payments statistics is based on the Sixth Edition of the International Monetary Fund's Balance of Payments and International Investment Position Manual (BPM6, 2008). Descriptions of the underlying concepts and structure of the balance of payments and the sources, methods and terms used in compiling the estimates are presented in Balance of Payments and International Investment Position, Australia: Concepts, Sources and Methods, 2011 (cat. no. 5331.0). The first part of the revised document was released on 8 March 2011, featuring only the Goods Account. Other components, including the Services Account, will be released as they become available. The Information paper: Implementation of new international statistical standards in ABS National and International Accounts, September 2009 (cat. no. 5310.0.55.002) describes the key changes introduced with BPM6.

4 The Concepts, Sources and Methods publication is available to download free from the ABS website. Select Methods, Classifications, Concepts & Standards, then choose ABS concepts, classifications and statistical standards and then the catalogue numbers as above.


SIGN CONVENTION

5 In keeping with balance of payments conventions, where statistics are on a balance of payments basis, credit entries (exports) are shown without sign and debit items (imports) are shown as negative entries.


SERVICES BY STATE

6 Services credits are classified by the state of provision, while services debits are classified by the state of consumption. The state allocations for transportation, travel, freight insurance and telecommunication services are based on a number of indicators including merchandise trade statistics by state, overseas passenger arrivals and departures by state of clearance and data provided by the Department of Immigration and Citizenship. The allocation for other services (about 25% of all trade in services) is primarily based on the location of the business reporting the information, which serves as a proxy for the state of provision/consumption of that service. The data should be used with care but are considered suitable for analysis over time.


SERVICES BY PARTNER COUNTRY

Partner country estimates are produced to provide a summary of Australia's trade in services with major trading partners.

7 A comprehensive explanation of the data sources used and the methodology applied in the compilation of partner country statistics is provided in Chapter 17 of Balance of Payments and International Investment Position, Australia – Concepts, Sources and Methods, 1998 (cat. no. 5331.0). (Please note that this information is not currently found in the 2011 issue.)

RELATED PRODUCTS AND PUBLICATIONS

8 Users may also wish to refer to the following publications which can be downloaded free of charge from the ABS web site:

• Balance of Payments and International Investment Position, Australia (cat. no. 5302.0) – issued quarterly
• International Trade in Goods and Services, Australia (cat. no. 5368.0) – issued monthly
• International Trade in Services by Country, by State and by Detailed Services Category, Financial Year - issued annually (cat. no. 5368.0.55.003)
• Balance of Payments and International Investment Position, Australia: Concepts, Sources and Methods, 2011 (cat. no. 5331.0)
• Information Paper: Quality of Australian Balance of Payments Statistics, 1996 (cat. no. 5342.0)
• A Guide to Australian Balance of Payments and International Investment Position Statistics, 2004 (cat. no. 5362.0.55.001).

9 Current publications and other products released by the ABS are available from the Statistics View. The ABS also issues a daily Release Advice on the web site which details products to be released in the week ahead.


ROUNDING

10 Where figures have been rounded, discrepancies may occur between sums of the component items and totals.


COUNTRY GROUPS

11 Composition of Country Groups

In tables 5 to 8 data for some small countries are included with neighbouring countries as follows. Andorra and Monaco are included with France. The Holy See and San Marino are included with Italy and Liechtenstein is included with Switzerland. In tables 5 to 10 these small countries are also included in the EU and OECD, as appropriate.

The composition of some of the following groups changes from the period in which countries gain membership to that group.

Africa n.e.s.

Includes Algeria, Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Central and West Africa nfd, Chad, Comoros, Congo (Brazzaville), Democratic Republic of Congo, Cote d'Ivoire, Djibouti, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea–Bissau, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mayotte, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, North Africa nec, North Africa nfd, Reunion, Rwanda, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Somalia, St Helena, Southern & East Africa nec, Southern & East Africa nfd, Sub–Saharan Africa nfd, Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania, Togo, Tunisia, Uganda, Western Sahara, Zaire, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

America n.e.s.

Includes Americas nfd, Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Falkland Islands, French Guiana, Guyana, North America nfd, Paraguay, South America nec, South America nfd, St Pierre and Miquelon, Suriname, Uruguay and Venezuela.
Asia n.e.s.

Includes Afghanistan, Armenia, Asia nfd, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Bhutan, British Indian Ocean Territory, Burma (Republic of the Union of Myanmar), Cambodia, Central Asia nfd, Chinese Asia (includes Mongolia) nfd, East Timor, Gaza Strip and West Bank, Georgia, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Japan and the Koreas nfd, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North), Kurdistan nfd, Kuwait, Kyrgyz Republic, Laos, Lebanon, Macao, Macau (SAR of China), Mainland South–East Asia nfd, Maldives, Maritime South–East Asia nfd, Middle East nfd, Mongolia, Nepal, North Africa and the Middle East nfd, North East nfd, Northern Mariana nfd, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, South East Asia nfd, Southern and Central Asia nfd, Southern Asia nfd, Sri Lanka, Syria, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan and Yemen.

Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC)

Includes Brunei Darussalam, Canada, Chile, China (excludes SARs and Taiwan Province), Hong Kong (SAR of China), Indonesia, Japan, Republic of Korea (South), Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Philippines, Russian Federation, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, United States of America and Vietnam.

Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN)

Includes Brunei Darussalam, Burma (Republic of the Union of Myanmar), Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

Central America and Caribbean

Includes Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Aruba, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Caribbean nfd, Cayman Islands, Central America nfd, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Martinique, Montserrat, Netherlands Antilles, Nicaragua, Panama, Puerto Rico, St Kitts–Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago, Turks and Caicos Islands and United States Virgin Islands.

European Union (EU)

Includes Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria (from January 2007), Cyprus (from July 2004), Czech Republic (from July 2004), Denmark, Estonia (from July 2004), Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary (from July 2004), Republic of Ireland, Italy, Latvia (from July 2004), Lithuania (from July 2004), Luxembourg, Malta (from July 2004), Netherlands, Poland (from July 2004), Portugal, Romania (from January 2007), Slovak Republic (from July 2004), Slovenia (from July 2004), Spain, Sweden and United Kingdom.

Europe n.e.s.

Includes Adelie Land (France), Albania, Austria, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Czechoslovakia nfd, Denmark, Eastern Europe nfd, Estonia, Europe nfd, Faeroe Islands, Finland, Former Serbia and Montenegro, Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Former USSR nfd, Former Yugoslavia nfd, Former Czechoslovakia nfd, Gibraltar, Greenland, Hungary, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Moldova, Montenegro, North–West Europe nfd, Europe nfd, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, South Eastern Europe nfd, Southern and Eastern Europe nfd, Southern Europe nfd, Spain, Turkey, Ukraine, Western Europe nfd and Yugoslavia.

Oceania n.e.s.

Includes American Samoa, Antarctica nfd, Argentine Antarctic Territory, British Antarctic Territory, Chilean Antarctic Territory, Cook Islands, French Polynesia, French Southern and Antarctic Territory, Guam, Johnston and Sand Islands, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Micronesia nfd, Melanesia nfd, Midway Islands, Nauru, New Caledonia, Niue, Northern Mariana Islands, Norfolk Island, Oceania and Antarctica nfd, Polynesia (excluding Hawaii) nec, Polynesia (excluding Hawaii) nfd, United States Pacific Islands n.i.e., Palau, Pitcairn, Queen Maud Land (Norway), Ross Dependency (New Zealand), Samoa, Samoa American, Solomon Islands, Tokelau, Tonga, Tuvalu, United States Miscellaneous Islands, Vanuatu, Wake Island and Wallis and Futuna.

Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)

Includes, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Chile (from April 2010), Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia (from October 2010), Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Republic of Ireland, Israel (from July 2010), Italy, Japan, Republic of Korea (South), Luxembourg, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovak Republic, Slovenia (from July 2010), Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, United Kingdom and United States of America.