SEPTEMBER KEY FIGURES

		Jul 2009	Aug 2009	Sep 2009	Aug 09 to Sep 09
		$m	$m	$m	% change
BALANCE ON GOODS AND SERVICES
	Trend estimates	-1 234	-1 612	-1 851	. .
	Seasonally adjusted	-1 729	-1 651	-1 849	. .
CREDITS (Exports of goods & services)
	Trend estimates	19 782	19 497	19 390	-1
	Seasonally adjusted	19 736	19 332	20 214	5
DEBITS (Imports of goods & services)
	Trend estimates	21 017	21 110	21 241	1
	Seasonally adjusted	21 465	20 983	22 064	5
. . not applicable

Balance on Goods and Services

SEPTEMBER KEY POINTS


BALANCE ON GOODS AND SERVICES

• The trend estimate of the balance on goods and services was a deficit of $1,851m in September 2009, an increase of $239m (15%) on a revised deficit in August 2009.
• In seasonally adjusted terms, the balance on goods and services was a deficit of $1,849m in September 2009, an increase of $198m (12%) on a revised deficit in August 2009.

CREDITS (EXPORTS OF GOODS & SERVICES)

• Seasonally adjusted, goods and services credits rose $882m (5%) to $20,214m. Non-monetary gold rose $538m (64%), non-rural goods rose $280m (2%) with the coal, coke and briquettes component up $242m (9%) and rural goods fell $74m (3%). Services credits rose $137m (3%).

DEBITS (IMPORTS OF GOODS & SERVICES)

• Seasonally adjusted, goods and services debits rose $1,081m (5%) to $22,064m. Intermediate and other merchandise goods rose $656m (10%) with the fuels and lubricants component up $448m (25%), non-monetary gold rose $182m (33%), consumption goods rose $123m (2%) and capital goods rose $74m (2%). Services debits rose $47m (1%).

NOTES

FORTHCOMING ISSUES

ISSUE	Release Date
October 2009	9 December 2009
November 2009	7 January 2010
December 2009	3 February 2010
January 2010	4 March 2010
February 2010	1 April 2010
March 2010	6 May 2010

REVISIONS

Revisions have been made to incorporate the latest available data relating to merchandise trade and international trade in services. Details of the revisions, in original terms are shown in Table 17. These revisions have:

• increased the deficit on goods and services for August 2009 by $108m
• increased the surplus on goods and services for 2008-09 by $371m.

Seasonally adjusted and trend series have been revised as a result of revisions to the original series, the incorporation of estimates for the latest month and the revision of seasonal factors under the concurrent seasonal adjustment methodology.


INFORMATION PAPERS

The Information paper: Implementation of revised international statistical standards in ABS National and International Accounts (cat no. 5310.0.55.002) was released on 28 October 2009. The paper describes the impact of the international standards on Australia's macro economic accounts including key aggregates for the balance of payments and international investment position. Technical information included in this paper describes the most significant changes in more detail.

An Information paper: Revisions to international standards in quarterly Balance of Payments and International Investment Position statistics from September 2009, 2009 (cat. no. 5302.0.55.002) was released on 22 July 2009. New series identifiers for the time series spreadsheets in the quarterly publication are scheduled to be released on 6 November 2009.


INTERNATIONAL TRADE IN SERVICES

International Trade in Services by Country, by State and by Detailed Services Category, Financial Year, 2008-09 (cat. no. 5368.0.55.003) is released concurrently with this issue. The data cubes in this release contain trade in services credits and debits for: country and country groups by financial years; financial years by country and country groups; state by financial years; financial years by state; and detailed services category by financial years.


INQUIRIES

For further information contact Selvi Sekhar on Canberra (02) 6252 5540 for goods, and Karen McGuigan on Canberra (02) 6252 5415 for services.