INTERNATIONAL TRADE PRICE INDEXES
12.24 Export and import price indexes measure price movements for a subset of Australian exports and imports. Selected international merchandise trade statistics are used to provide coverage checks for updating price samples with new commodities and contributors. The information is also used for annually reweighting both indexes each September quarter.
12.25 In addition, price samples are supplemented with unit prices for selected homogeneous commodities, calculated directly from international merchandise trade statistics. Export and import price indexes are released quarterly, categorised by commodity and industry, in the ABS publication International Trade Price Indexes, Australia (cat. no. 6457.0).
12.26 International price pressures can have a significant impact on domestic prices, directly through exchange rates and imports, and indirectly through exports. There is considerable policy interest in import prices as a potential source of inflation and in the impact of export prices on national income. In disaggregated form, the import and export price indexes are used extensively in Australia's system of national accounts and balance of payments to deflate external trade values to provide indicators of the volume of international trade.
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