Export and Import Invoice Currencies, 2020-21

This article provides analysis of the major currencies used to invoice goods exported from and imported into Australia.

Released

4/11/2021

Source

International Trade in Goods and Services, Australia, September 2021

Key Statistics

In 2020-21, 87.8% of merchandise exports were invoiced in the United States Dollar (USD) and 9.9% in the Australian Dollar (AUD).
In 2020-21, 53.3% of merchandise imports were invoiced in the USD and 32.2% in the AUD.

Invoice Currency

An invoice currency is the currency in which an invoice for exported or imported goods is denominated, prior to conversion to AUD.

All values are reported in AUD and published on a June 2021 basis. Data for the March quarter 2021, June quarter 2021 and 2020-21 financial year are preliminary and subject to revision.

Exchange rates

Graph 1 shows movements in the value of the AUD against selected currencies and the Trade-weighted Index (TWI), modelled by the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA), from January 2015 to June 2021. The TWI is modelled by the RBA to provide an indicative measure of Australia’s international competitiveness and the overall strength of the AUD. Further information on the TWI is available on the RBA Website.

There are many factors that influence an importer or exporter to invoice in one currency over another. One of these factors is the value of one currency against another. For example, when the AUD depreciates against the USD, some Australian consumers find imports invoiced in the AUD relatively more attractive than imports invoiced in the USD.

Graph 1 demonstrates that AUD exchange rates were particularly volatile in the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic in Australia. Between December 2019 to March 2020, the AUD depreciated 9% against the USD. Following this, over the 3 months from March to June 2020, the AUD appreciated 11% against the USD.

Graph 1. Movements in selected exchange rates(a)
	USD	EUR	NZD	GBP	JPY	RMB	TWI
Jan-15	100	100	100	100	100	100	100
Feb-15	96.3	98.7	98.9	95.3	96.4	96.8	96.9
Mar-15	95.5	102.8	97.9	96.7	97.1	95.9	97.1
Apr-15	95.6	103.4	96.5	97.1	96.5	95.4	96.6
May-15	97.7	101.9	101	95.7	99.5	97.4	98.5
Jun-15	95.4	99.1	104.5	92.9	99.6	95.3	97.1
Jul-15	91.7	97.2	105.5	89.4	95.5	91.6	94.1
Aug-15	90.1	94.3	105.4	87.6	93.7	92	93.9
Sep-15	87.2	90.4	105.4	86.1	88.4	89.3	91.2
Oct-15	89.1	92.5	101.9	88.1	90.4	91	92.5
Nov-15	88.4	95.9	102.9	88.1	91.4	90.6	92.8
Dec-15	89.6	96	101.7	90.5	92.2	92.9	94.3
Jan-16	86.7	93	101.5	91.1	86.5	91.6	92
Feb-16	88.1	92.5	101.7	93.3	85.4	92.8	92.6
Mar-16	92.5	97	105.2	98.5	88.2	96.7	96.3
Apr-16	94.7	97.3	105.1	100.5	87.6	98.6	97.3
May-16	90.5	93.2	101.8	94.4	83.2	95	93.5
Jun-16	91.4	94.9	99.5	97.7	81.3	96.9	94.3
Jul-16	93	98	99.9	107.2	81.7	99.9	96.2
Aug-16	94.3	98.1	99.8	109.1	80.6	100.8	96.7
Sep-16	93.9	97.6	98.2	108.2	80.8	100.7	96.5
Oct-16	94.1	99.5	100.7	115.8	82.6	101.9	98
Nov-16	93.1	100.4	99.7	113.6	84.9	102.4	98.5
Dec-16	91	100.5	98.7	110.3	89	101.2	98
Jan-17	92.1	101	99.1	113.4	89.4	102.2	98.9
Feb-17	94.8	103.7	100.4	115	90.5	104.7	100.9
Mar-17	94.2	102.8	102.9	115.8	89.9	104.5	100.4
Apr-17	93.1	101.3	102.1	111.8	86.7	103.2	98.6
May-17	91.9	97	101.3	107.8	87.1	101.7	97
Jun-17	93.4	96.9	98.9	110.7	87.5	102.3	97.8
Jul-17	96.3	97.5	100.2	112.4	91.4	104.9	100.4
Aug-17	97.8	96.5	102.5	114.4	90.7	104.9	100.9
Sep-17	98.5	96.4	104.1	112.4	92.1	104.1	101
Oct-17	96.2	95.4	104.6	110.6	91.8	102.5	99.6
Nov-17	94.2	93.6	104.7	108.1	89.8	100.3	97.4
Dec-17	94.4	93	103.8	106.7	90	100.1	97
Jan-18	98.2	94	103.6	108	92.1	101.6	99
Feb-18	97.4	91.8	101.9	105.6	88.7	99	97.2
Mar-18	96	90.6	101.2	104.2	85.9	97.6	95.7
Apr-18	95.1	90.2	100.3	102.3	86.4	96.3	94.9
May-18	93	91.6	102.4	104.6	86.2	95.3	94.5
Jun-18	92.6	92.5	102.1	105.7	86	96.3	94.9
Jul-18	91.5	91.3	103.1	105.4	86.1	98.8	95.5
Aug-18	90.5	91.4	103.9	106.6	84.9	99.7	95.3
Sep-18	89	89	103.2	103.4	84.1	98.1	93.9
Oct-18	87.8	89	102.9	102.3	83.6	97.7	93.3
Nov-18	89.6	91.8	101.2	105.2	85.7	100	95.2
Dec-18	88.8	91	99.5	106.3	84.3	98.3	94
Jan-19	88.3	90.1	99.8	104	81.2	96.4	92.5
Feb-19	88.3	90.7	98.8	103	82.3	95.7	92.3
Mar-19	87.5	90.2	98	100.7	82.1	94.4	91.5
Apr-19	87.9	91.2	100	102.2	82.8	95	92.2
May-19	85.9	89.5	100.1	101.3	79.8	94.6	91
Jun-19	85.8	88.6	99.6	102.7	78.2	95.2	90.6
Jul-19	86.3	89.7	98.8	104.9	78.9	95.5	91.1
Aug-19	83.7	87.7	99.7	104.5	75.1	95.1	89.5
Sep-19	84.1	89	101.5	103.3	76.3	96.3	90.2
Oct-19	84	88.6	101.5	100.8	76.7	95.8	89.8
Nov-19	84.4	89	100.9	99.3	77.6	95.3	89.8
Dec-19	85	89.1	98.8	98.3	78.3	95.9	90.2
Jan-20	84.9	89.1	98.2	98.5	78.4	94.5	89.6
Feb-20	82.5	88.1	98.7	96.4	76.6	92.8	88.1
Mar-20	77	80.9	97.3	94.2	69.8	86.8	82.8
Apr-20	77.8	83.5	99.2	95.1	70.8	88.6	84.5
May-20	80.4	86.1	101.2	99.2	72.8	91.9	87.2
Jun-20	85.2	88.2	101.3	103.2	77.3	97.1	91.2
Jul-20	86.9	88.4	101	104.1	78.3	97.9	92.4
Aug-20	89	87.6	103.3	102.7	79.6	99.1	93.5
Sep-20	89.4	88.4	102.6	104.6	79.7	98	93.4
Oct-20	88.1	87.2	101.6	102.9	78.2	95.2	91.4
Nov-20	89.8	88.5	100.2	103.1	79.1	95.3	92.1
Dec-20	92.9	89	100.3	105	81.5	97.8	94.2
Jan-21	95.5	91.4	101.6	106.2	83.6	99.3	96.2
Feb-21	95.8	92.3	101.2	104.8	85.2	99.5	96.7
Mar-21	95.3	93.3	102.1	104.3	87.4	99.7	97.2
Apr-21	95.2	92.7	102.2	104.3	87.6	99.8	97.2
May-21	95.9	92.1	101.6	103.3	88.4	99.2	97.1
Jun-21	94.5	91.4	101.6	102.1	87.8	97.6	95.9

Graph 1. Movements in selected exchange rates(a)

["","USD","EUR","NZD","GBP","JPY","RMB","TWI"]

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(a) Monthly average exchange rates have a base month of January 2015 = 100.

Quarterly exports by invoice currency

Over the two year period from June 2019 to June 2021, the USD was the main currency used to invoice merchandise exports, representing at least 85% of the total in every quarter, and increasing by 2.6 percentage points by the end of the period.

The AUD consistently accounted for the second largest proportion, averaging 11% of exports per quarter, and decreasing by 2.5 percentage points by the June quarter 2021.

All other currencies accounted for a relatively small proportion of exports in every quarter.

TABLE 1. INVOICE CURRENCIES FOR EXPORTS - Quarterly(a)(b)
Invoice currency	Jun 2019	Sep 2019	Dec 2019	Mar 2020	Jun 2020	Sep 2020	Dec 2020	Mar 2021	Jun 2021
Invoice currency	Jun 2019	Sep 2019	Dec 2019	Mar 2020	Jun 2020	Sep 2020	Dec 2020	Mar 2021	Jun 2021
VALUE (AUD, $m)
VALUE (AUD, $m)
United States dollar	86,403	88,363	82,741	78,989	79,633	73,317	83,149	88,757	102,120
Australian dollar	11,568	11,207	11,930	10,168	9,551	9,737	10,052	8,809	10,402
European euro	761	776	784	753	666	634	804	950	1,041
New Zealand dollar	447	520	520	488	407	515	599	519	535
United Kingdom pound sterling	371	462	517	388	341	219	273	192	206
Japanese yen	222	242	267	229	196	198	264	205	241
Chinese renminbi	215	301	198	179	145	273	168	115	187
Other	284	287	354	292	285	237	324	259	281
Total Merchandise Exports	100,273	102,158	97,310	91,487	91,223	85,129	95,633	99,807	115,012

CONTRIBUTION (%)
CONTRIBUTION (%)
United States dollar	86.2	86.5	85.0	86.3	87.3	86.1	86.9	88.9	88.8
Australian dollar	11.5	11.0	12.3	11.1	10.5	11.4	10.5	8.8	9.0
European euro	0.8	0.8	0.8	0.8	0.7	0.7	0.8	1.0	0.9
New Zealand dollar	0.4	0.5	0.5	0.5	0.4	0.6	0.6	0.5	0.5
United Kingdom pound sterling	0.4	0.5	0.5	0.4	0.4	0.3	0.3	0.2	0.2
Japanese yen	0.2	0.2	0.3	0.3	0.2	0.2	0.3	0.2	0.2
Chinese renminbi	0.2	0.3	0.2	0.2	0.2	0.3	0.2	0.1	0.2
Other	0.3	0.3	0.4	0.3	0.3	0.3	0.3	0.3	0.2
Total Percentage	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100

(a) Data as at the June 2021 reference month. March 2021 and June 2021 quarters are preliminary and subject to possible revision.
(b) Figures have been rounded and discrepancies may occur between totals and the sums of the component items.

Export commodities by invoice currency

Similar to the findings presented in the previous edition (2015-16) of the feature article, the USD accounted for the greatest proportion of merchandise exports in 13 of the largest 20 Standard International Trade Classification (SITC) Divisions. Notably, the USD continued to represent nearly 100% of exports for the 3 largest SITC Divisions:

coal, coke and briquettes;
metalliferous ores and metal scrap; and
gas, natural and manufactured.

For 5 of the 20 divisions presented, the AUD was the most used export invoice currency. Of particular interest, the AUD accounted for:

77.1% of beverages, representing a 11.3 percentage point increase from 2015-16.
56.6% of general industrial machinery, 2.9 percentage points lower than 2015-16.
55.4% of miscellaneous manufactured articles, 10.8 percentage points higher than 2015-16.

Exports invoiced in the European euro (EUR) represented 50.8% of oil-seeds and oleaginous fruits, down 19.9 percentage points from 2015-16.

TABLE 2. EXPORT INVOICE CURRENCIES FOR SELECTED SITC REV. 4 DIVISIONS, Contributions - 2020-21(a)(b)(c)
SITC code	SITC description	Value	USD	AUD	EUR	NZD	GBP	JPY	RMB	Other
SITC code	SITC description	AUD, $m	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%
01	Meat and meat preparations	13,433	59.3	35.7	0.6	0.1	0.7	1.3	0.6	1.7
02	Dairy products and birds’ eggs	2,718	56.1	41.9	0.6	0.1	-	0.1	1.1	0.1
04	Cereals and cereal preparations	10,213	90.3	7.6	0.7	0.3	-	1.1	-	0.1
05	Vegetables and fruit	4,216	50.2	48.3	0.4	0.3	0.1	0.5	-	0.3
11	Beverages	2,930	11.9	77.1	1.8	2.0	3.7	0.3	-	3.3
22	Oil-seeds and oleaginous fruits	2,228	43.1	3.8	50.8	0.1	-	-	-	2.2
26	Textile fibres (excl. wool tops and other combed wool) and their wastes, not manufactured into yarn or fabric	3,186	83.5	14.2	1.7	0.1	0.3	0.1	0.2	-
28	Metalliferous ores and metal scrap	179,693	99.5	0.5	-	-	-	-	-	-
32	Coal, coke and briquettes	39,186	99.9	0.1	-	-	-	-	-	-
33	Petroleum, petroleum products and related materials	9,414	79.9	20.1	-	-	-	-	-	-
34	Gas, natural and manufactured	31,913	99.8	0.2	-	-	-	-	-	-
54	Medicinal and pharmaceutical products	4,173	35.5	44.1	2.0	6.3	0.2	0.7	8.5	2.7
68	Non-ferrous metals	11,100	96.4	3.2	-	-	0.1	0.2	-	-
74	General industrial machinery and equipment, n.e.s., and machine parts, n.e.s.	2,155	31	56.6	6.4	2.8	1.8	0.1	0.1	1.1
76	Telecommunications and sound recording and reproducing apparatus and equipment	2,296	57.0	38.5	2.5	1.2	0.5	-	-	0.2
77	Electrical machinery, apparatus and appliances, n.e.s., and electrical parts thereof (incl. non electrical counterparts, n.e.s., of electrical household type equipment)	2,153	33.7	49.7	7.7	5.0	1.8	0.1	0.6	1.5
87	Professional, scientific and controlling instruments and apparatus, n.e.s.	3,514	43.1	25.2	10.4	4.0	10.7	1.4	2.2	3.0
89	Miscellaneous manufactured articles, n.e.s.	2,588	24	55.4	4.1	12.6	1.1	0.1	0.1	2.7
95	Gold coin whether or not legal tender, and other coin being legal tender	2,253	96.6	3.4	-	-	-	-	-	-
97	Gold, non-monetary (excl. gold ores and concentrates)	26,109	95.1	4.9	-	-	-	-	-	-
	Other	40,110	52.9	38.8	2.7	2.8	0.5	0.8	0.8	0.9
	Total Merchandise exports	395,581	87.8	9.9	0.9	0.5	0.2	0.2	0.2	0.3

- nil or rounded to zero (including null cells)
(a) Data as at the June 2021 reference month. 2020-21 financial year data is preliminary and subject to possible revision.
(b) Figures have been rounded and discrepancies may occur between totals and the sums of the component items.
(c) Some SITC divisions exclude commodities subject to a confidentiality restriction. These are included in Other.

Quarterly imports by invoice currency

Imports invoiced in the USD consistently contributed more than half of all merchandise imports, averaging 55% per quarter over the 9-quarter period. The second most dominant currency was the AUD, averaging 32% of imports per quarter.

As with exports, the percentage of imports invoiced in the AUD has generally moved inversely to the percentage invoiced in the USD over the same period. For example, from the June quarter 2020 to the June quarter 2021, the AUD contribution increased 5.0% percentage points and the USD contribution decreased 5.1% percentage points. This coincides with a period of appreciation in the value of AUD against the USD (see Graph 1).

In combination, all other currencies accounted for no more than 13.8% of total imports, with the EUR being the largest contributor from the remainder.

TABLE 3. INVOICE CURRENCIES FOR IMPORTS - Quarterly(a)(b)
Invoice currency	Jun 2019	Sep 2019	Dec 2019	Mar 2020	Jun 2020	Sep 2020	Dec 2020	Mar 2021	Jun 2021
Invoice currency	Jun 2019	Sep 2019	Dec 2019	Mar 2020	Jun 2020	Sep 2020	Dec 2020	Mar 2021	Jun 2021
VALUE ($m)
VALUE ($m)
United States dollar	41,280	43,980	47,011	39,203	40,006	39,527	43,229	39,835	41,977
Australian dollar	23,611	23,847	23,489	22,083	19,990	23,958	26,221	25,333	26,971
European euro	6,005	5,949	5,518	5,057	5,225	5,801	6,274	5,874	6,141
New Zealand dollar	1,107	1,068	952	1,035	804	796	1,081	1,009	1,039
United Kingdom pound sterling	725	759	808	701	896	875	1,059	914	1,060
Japanese yen	696	781	740	696	629	695	794	729	790
Chinese renminbi	647	706	693	619	612	643	595	545	574
Other	1,182	1,167	1,417	1,194	1,055	1,082	1,166	1,074	1,121
Total Merchandise Imports	75,252	78,257	80,628	70,588	69,218	73,378	80,419	75,313	79,673

CONTRIBUTION (%)
CONTRIBUTION (%)
United States dollar	54.9	56.2	58.3	55.5	57.8	53.9	53.8	52.9	52.7
Australian dollar	31.4	30.5	29.1	31.3	28.9	32.7	32.6	33.6	33.9
European euro	8.0	7.6	6.8	7.2	7.5	7.9	7.8	7.8	7.7
New Zealand dollar	1.5	1.4	1.2	1.5	1.2	1.1	1.3	1.3	1.3
United Kingdom pound sterling	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.3	1.2	1.3	1.2	1.3
Japanese yen	0.9	1.0	0.9	1.0	0.9	0.9	1.0	1.0	1.0
Chinese renminbi	0.9	0.9	0.9	0.9	0.9	0.9	0.7	0.7	0.7
Other	1.6	1.5	1.8	1.7	1.5	1.5	1.4	1.4	1.4
Total Percentage	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100

Import commodities by invoice currency

Imports invoiced in the USD contributed the largest proportion of import value for the majority of SITC Divisions. Of particular interest, the USD accounted for:

99.4% of petroleum, close to the 99.3% in 2015-16.
92.2% of non-monetary gold, which was 17.3 percentage points higher than 2015-16.

For 3 of the 20 divisions reported, the AUD was the most used import invoice currency. The AUD accounted for:

80.2% of road vehicles, representing a decrease of 2.3 percentage points from 2015-16.
76.9% of medicinal and pharmaceutical products, which was just 0.5 percentage points lower than 2015-16.
53.1% of rubber manufactures, which was 6.3 percentage points higher than 2015-16.

For 6 of the 20 SITC Divisions presented in Table 4, the proportion of imports invoiced in the EUR was greater than 10%. The largest of which was specialised machinery, with the EUR accounting for 24.0%.

Manufactures of metals was the SITC Division with the highest proportion of imports invoices denominated in Chinese renminbi (RMB), at 6.1%.

TABLE 4. IMPORT INVOICE CURRENCIES FOR SELECTED SITC REV. 4 DIVISIONS, Contributions - 2020-21(a)(b)(c)
SITC code	SITC description	Value	USD	AUD	EUR	NZD	GBP	JPY	RMB	Other
SITC code	SITC description	AUD, $m	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%
33	Petroleum, petroleum products and related materials	25,265	99.4	0.3	0.2	-	-	-	-	-
54	Medicinal and pharmaceutical products	12,723	16.7	76.9	3.4	0.4	1.2	0.1	0.1	1.2
62	Rubber manufactures, n.e.s.	4,217	37.8	53.1	5.8	0.2	0.4	1.5	0.3	0.8
65	Iron and steel	5,424	69.9	18.5	6.8	1.3	0.6	0.4	1.5	1.1
66	Non-metallic mineral manufactures, n.e.s.	4,152	69.5	12.4	12.4	0.3	0.7	1.9	1.6	1.3
68	Non-ferrous metals	3,960	83.3	8.2	4.4	0.6	0.6	0.1	2.4	0.4
69	Manufactures of metals, n.e.s.	9,629	57.8	22.3	9.3	0.8	1.1	0.6	6.1	2.0
71	Power generating machinery and equipment	5,264	60.4	15.4	14.8	0.3	1.5	1.8	4.3	1.4
72	Machinery specialized for particular industries	12,380	37.4	25.6	24.0	0.4	2.0	6.4	1.5	2.7
74	General industrial machinery and equipment, n.e.s., and machine parts, n.e.s.	16,496	41.3	27.9	21.1	0.7	1.7	2.2	3.1	2.0
75	Office machines and automatic data processing machines	11,867	72.0	24.0	1.6	0.2	0.4	1.5	-	0.3
76	Telecommunications and sound recording and reproducing apparatus and equipment	17,512	61.7	35.2	2.0	0.1	0.4	0.2	0.1	0.3
77	Electrical machinery, apparatus and appliances, n.e.s., and electrical parts thereof (incl. non electrical counterparts, n.e.s., of electrical household type equipment)	19,201	50.4	33.6	9.3	0.3	1.1	0.7	2.5	2.2
78	Road vehicles (incl. air-cushion vehicles)	41,107	10.9	80.2	3.1	0.2	0.5	3.3	1.0	0.8
79	Transport equipment (excl. road vehicles)	6,307	60.0	25.6	12.2	0.4	0.8	0.1	0.3	0.7
82	Furniture and parts thereof; bedding, mattresses, mattress supports, cushions and similar stuffed furnishings	5,691	78.3	10.1	6.2	0.2	0.5	0.1	4.0	0.5
84	Articles of apparel and clothing accessories	11,118	77.9	16.1	2.2	0.3	0.7	0.1	2.2	0.4
87	Professional, scientific and controlling instruments and apparatus, n.e.s.	8,009	42.7	36.0	14.5	0.6	2.7	0.9	0.4	2.3
89	Miscellaneous manufactured articles, n.e.s.	17,073	55.9	31.1	6.6	0.7	1.9	0.7	0.9	2.1
97	Gold, non-monetary (excl. gold ores and concentrates)	8,027	92.2	1.1	0.1	5.5	-	-	-	1.1
	Other	63,358	54.9	27.0	10.9	1.7	1.3	0.9	0.8	2.6
	Total Merchandise Imports	308,782	53.3	33.2	7.8	0.8	1.0	1.3	1.3	1.4

Historical comparison

In the period 2015-16 to 2020-21, the proportion of merchandise exports invoiced in the USD has increased 6.3 percentage points to 87.8%, while the AUD decreased 5.4 percentage points to 9.9%. This occurrence is heavily influenced by a compositional shift across the SITC Divisions. For example, the value of metalliferous ores exports, which is nearly 100% invoiced in the USD, has increased from $69b in 2015-16 to $180b in 2020-21.

TABLE 5. INVOICE CURRENCIES FOR EXPORTS, Financial year(a)(b)
	2015-16	2016-17	2017-18	2018-19	2019-20	2020-21
Currency
PERCENT
PERCENT
United States dollar	81.5	84.1	84.0	85.5	86.3	87.8
Australian dollar	15.3	12.9	13.3	12.0	11.2	9.9
European euro	1.1	1.1	1.0	0.9	0.8	0.9
New Zealand dollar	0.7	0.6	0.5	0.5	0.5	0.5
United Kingdom pound sterling	0.4	0.3	0.3	0.2	0.2	0.2
Chinese renminbi	0.2	0.3	0.3	0.3	0.4	0.2
Japanese yen	0.4	0.3	0.3	0.2	0.2	0.2
Other	0.4	0.4	0.3	0.3	0.3	0.3
Total Percentage	100	100	100	100	100	100

AUD, $m
AUD, $m
Total Merchandise Exports	243,423	290,880	314,478	372,622	382,178	395,581

(a) Data as at the June 2021 reference month. 2020-21 financial year data is preliminary and subject to possible revision.
(b) Figures have been rounded and discrepancies may occur between totals and the sums of the component items.

In each year from 2015-16 to 2020-21, the majority of merchandise import value was invoiced in either the USD, averaging 55% of imports per year, or the AUD, averaging 32% of imports per year.

By comparing Table 6 with Graph 1, the relationship between exchange rate movements and the choice of invoice currency for imports can be considered. Between 2017-18 and 2018-19, the proportion of imports invoices in the AUD decreased 2.2 percentage points, while the AUD depreciated moderately against most currencies. Between 2019-20 and 2020-21, the value of the AUD appreciated against most currencies and the proportion of imports invoiced in the AUD increased 3.3 percentage points.

TABLE 6. INVOICE CURRENCIES FOR IMPORTS, Financial year(a)(b)
	2015-16	2016-17	2017-18	2018-19	2019-20	2020-21
	2015-16	2016-17	2017-18	2018-19	2019-20	2020-21
Currency
PERCENT
PERCENT
United States dollar	54.8	54.8	54.1	55.7	57.0	53.3
Australian dollar	32.2	32.3	33.2	31.0	29.9	33.2
European euro	6.9	7.1	7.2	7.5	7.3	7.8
Japanese yen	1.5	1.5	1.4	1.4	1.3	1.3
United Kingdom pound sterling	1.2	0.9	0.9	1.0	1.0	1.0
New Zealand dollar	1.0	0.9	0.9	0.9	0.9	0.8
Chinese renminbi	0.6	0.6	0.7	0.9	1.1	1.3
Other	1.9	1.9	1.7	1.6	1.6	1.4
Total Percentage	100	100	100	100	100	100

AUD, $m
AUD, $m
Total Merchandise Imports	263,264	264,008	301,159	306,638	298,691	308,782

Financial year comparison on trade with China

As noted previously in this article, the USD consistently contributes the largest share of total merchandise exports and imports invoice values. The USD is even more dominant when Australia trades with China, averaging 93.7% of exports invoices and 77.5% of imports invoices over the 6-year period.

Since 2015-16, the proportion of exports to China invoiced in the USD, increased by 2.5 percentage points, while the AUD decreased by 2.5 percentage points.

The proportion of imports from China, invoiced in the USD decreased by 4.3 percentage points, while the AUD increased by 2.6 percentage points.

Although the RMB continues to contribute a relatively small proportion of imports invoices, the proportion has nearly doubled over the 6-year period, increasing 2.1 percentage points.

TABLE 7. EXPORT TO CHINA BY INVOICE CURRENCY. Financial Year(a)(b)
	2015-16	2016-17	2017-18	2018-19	2019-20	2020-21
Invoice currency
PERCENT
PERCENT
United States dollar	93.3	93.7	92.8	93.2	93.4	95.9
Australian dollar	6.1	5.2	6.2	5.8	5.4	3.5
Chinese renminbi	0.5	1.0	0.9	0.9	1.1	0.5
European euro	-	0.1	-	-	-	-
Other	-	-	-	-	0.1	-
Total Percentage	100	100	100	100	100	100

AUD, $m
AUD, $m
Total Merchandise Exports to China(c)	75,332	95,560	106,533	134,879	151,379	167,299

- nil or rounded to zero (including null cells)
(a) Data as at the June 2021 reference month. 2020-21 financial year data is preliminary and subject to possible revision.
(b) Figures have been rounded and discrepancies may occur between totals and the sums of the component items.
(c) The data represents total merchandise exports to China.

TABLE 8. IMPORTS FROM CHINA BY INVOICE CURRENCY. Financial Year(a)(b)
	2015-16	2016-17	2017-18	2018-19	2019-20	2020-21
Invoice currency
PERCENT
PERCENT
United States dollar	79.0	78.2	77.9	77.8	77.8	74.6
Australian dollar	16.7	17.4	17.4	17.0	16.6	19.3
Chinese renminbi	2.3	2.5	3.1	3.4	3.8	4.5
European euro	0.8	0.8	0.8	1.0	1.0	0.9
Other	1.2	1.0	0.8	0.8	0.7	0.7
Total	100	100	100	100	100	100

AUD, $m
AUD, $m
Total Merchandise Imports to China(c)	61,474	61,494	68,117	78,246	81,019	87,259

- nil or rounded to zero (including null cells)
(a) Data as at the June 2021 reference month. 2020-21 financial year data is preliminary and subject to possible revision.
(b) Figures have been rounded and discrepancies may occur between totals and the sums of the component items.
(c) The data represents total merchandise imports from China.

Methodology

Information on the invoice currencies used in export and import transactions is collected by the Department of Home Affairs and delivered to the ABS with other merchandise trade information required for statistical purposes.

For exports, the ABS converts values reported in foreign currencies to the AUD using RBA daily exchange rates, based on the date of departure of the goods.

For imports, the Department of Home Affairs converts values reported in foreign currencies to the AUD using exchange rates applicable on the date of departure of the goods from the overseas country. The ABS is provided details of the invoice currency, combined with the value of the import transaction denominated in the AUD.

Some factors may complicate the measurement of invoice currencies. In Australian export and import statistics, foreign currencies are converted to the AUD, using the exchange rate applicable on the day of shipment. Some trading partners may undertake the conversion using a different exchange rate or one applicable on a different day. Additionally, some exporters and importers hedge exchange rates and calculate the value of the transaction using the hedged exchange rate rather than the prevailing exchange rate (see the Further information section for more details about hedging activity).

Further information

Similar analysis was included in previous editions of International Trade in Goods and Services, Australia (cat. no. 5368.0), including the October 2016, June 2014, and June 2012 editions.

For information on the Reserve Bank of Australia's (RBA) methodology of compiling the TWI, refer to the RBA website.

For more information about hedging activity undertaken by importers and exporters in 2017, refer to Foreign Currency Exposure, Australia, March Quarter 2017 (cat. no. 5308.0).

For inquiries about these and related statistics, contact the Customer Assistance Service via the ABS website Contact Us page. The ABS Privacy Policy outlines how the ABS will handle any personal information that you provide to us.

Rounding

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

APA

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