Australian Outward Foreign Affiliates Trade

The ABS would like to thank the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) and the Australian Trade and Investment Commission (Austrade) who have provided funding and support for this publication.

The aim of the Australian Outward Foreign Affiliates Trade (AOFAT) is to measure the economic activity of the foreign affiliates of Australian resident enterprises, disaggregated by the level of Australian ownership, country of origin and industry with respect to the 2018-19 reference period.

In 2018-19, there were 275 Australian parent enterprises with a controlling interest (i.e., more than 50 percent of the voting power in the direct investment enterprise) in 5,176 Australian owned foreign affiliates.

Of the 5,176 Australian owned foreign affiliates:

• 4,622 were small-to-medium businesses (with 0 - 199 employees); and
• 554 were large businesses (with 200 or more employees).

In terms of the location of Australian owned foreign affiliates (by country):

• United States of America had 932 operating affiliates or 18% of the total number of Australian owned affiliates;
• United Kingdom had 608 operating affiliates or 12% of the total number of Australian owned affiliates; and
• New Zealand had 561 operating affiliates or 11% of the total number of Australian owned affiliates.
   

The total number of employees of Australian owned foreign affiliates were 412,000 in 2018-19.

With regard to the number of employees of the Australian owned foreign affiliate, by industry:

• Manufacturing had 77,000 employees or 19% of the total number of employees;
• Financial and insurance services had 74,000 employees or 18% of the total number of employees;
• Mining had 59,000 employees or 14% of the total number of employees; and
• Professional, scientific and technical services had 49,000 employees or 12% of the total number of employees.

In terms of the number of employees of the Australian owned foreign affiliate, by location (country):

• New Zealand had 66,000 employees or 16% of the total number of employees;
• United States of America had 62,000 employees or 15% of the total number of employees; and
• United Kingdom had 44,000 employees or 11% of the total number of employees.
   

Total sales of goods and services of Australian owned foreign affiliates was $213,044m with:

• $123,293m total sale of goods; and
• $89,751m total sale of services.

The sale of goods of Australian owned foreign affiliates by type of good included:

• Metalliferous ores and metal scrap, $21,906m or 18% of total sales of goods;
• Non-ferrous metals, $15,013m or 12% of total sales of goods; and
• Medicinal and pharmaceutical products, $12,096m or 10% of total sales of goods.

The sale of services of Australian owned foreign affiliates by type of service included:

• Insurance and pension services, $22,574m or 25% of total sales of services;
• Financial services, $20,693m or 23% of total sales of services;
• Other business services, $17,882m or 20% of total sales of services; and
• Construction services, $11,114m or 12% of total sales of services.

Sales of goods and services by location (country) of the Australian owned foreign affiliate saw:

• United States of America with $44,865m or 21% of total sales of goods and services;
• New Zealand with $29,713m or 14% of total sales of goods and services; and
• United Kingdom with $24,076m or 11% of total sales of goods and services.

The sale of goods by location (country) of the Australian owned foreign affiliate saw:

• United States of America with $24,557m or 20% of total sale of goods;
• United Kingdom with $11,835m or 10% of total sale of goods; and
• New Zealand with $11,560m or 9% of total sale of goods.

The sale of services by location (country) of the Australian owned foreign affiliate included:

• United States of America with $20,308m or 23% of total sale of services;
• New Zealand with $18,153m or 20% of total sale of services; and
• United Kingdom with $12,241m or 14% of total sale of services.
   

The total purchases of goods and services of all Australian owned foreign affiliates was $81,287m with:

• $53,066m purchases of goods; and
• $28,221m purchases of services.

Purchases of goods and services of the Australian owned foreign affiliate, by industry included:

• Manufacturing with $21,399m or 26% of total purchases of goods and services;
• Mining with $17,793m or 22% of total purchases of goods and services; and
• Financial and insurance services with $14,687m or 18% of total purchases of goods and services.

Purchases of goods of the Australian owned foreign affiliate, by industry included:

• Manufacturing with $20,734m or 39% of total purchases of goods; and
• Mining with $16,423m or 31% of total purchases of goods.

Purchases of services of the Australian owned foreign affiliate, by industry included:

• Professional, scientific and technical services with $5,781m or 20% of total purchases of services; and
• Rental, hiring and real estate services with $2,931m or 10% of total purchases of services.

Purchases of goods and services of the Australian owned foreign affiliate, by location (country) saw:

• United States of America with $19,146m or 24% of total purchases of goods and services;
• New Zealand with $12,541m or 15% of total purchases of goods and services; and
• Canada with $9,059m or 11% of total purchases of goods and services.

Purchases of goods of the Australian owned foreign affiliate, by location (country) saw:

• United States of America with $11,720m or 22% of total purchases of goods;
• Canada with $7,065m or 13% of total purchases of goods; and
• New Zealand with $5,972m or 11% of total purchases of goods.

Purchases of services of the Australian owned foreign affiliate, by location (country) saw:

• United States of America with $7,426m or 26% of total purchases of services;
• New Zealand with $6,596m or 23% of total purchases of services; and
• United Kingdom with $3,007m or 11% of total purchases of services.
   

Total operating profits before tax of all Australian owned foreign affiliates were $42,466m with:

• $275,305m total operating income; and
• $232,838m total operating expenses.

Operating income of the Australian owned foreign affiliate, by industry included:

• Financial and insurance services with $97,696m or 35% of total operating income;
• Mining with $53,392m or 19% of total operating income; and
• Manufacturing with $45,109m or 16% of total operating income.

Operating expenses of the Australian owned foreign affiliate, by industry included:

• Financial and insurance services with $83,102m or 36% of total operating expenses;
• Mining with $42,360m or 18% of total operating expenses; and
• Manufacturing with $37,878m or 16% of total operating expenses.
   

Total Australian equity in the affiliates of all Australian owned foreign affiliates was $529,511m.

Australian equity in the affiliates, by industry included:

• Financial and insurance services with $167,003m or 32% of total Australian equity;
• Mining with $137,232m or 26% of total Australian equity; and
• Manufacturing with $122,052m or 23% of total Australian equity.

Australian equity in the affiliates, by location (country) included:

• United Kingdom with $118,268m or 22% of total Australian equity;
• United States of America with $101,911m or 19% of total Australian equity; and
• New Zealand with $83,061m or 16% of total Australian equity.
   

Total assets of all Australian owned foreign affiliates were $1,956,303m.

Assets of the Australian owned foreign affiliate, by industry saw:

• Financial and insurance services with $1,534,563m or 78% of total assets; and
• Mining with $190,457m or 10% of total assets.

Assets of the Australian owned foreign affiliate, by location (country) saw:

• New Zealand with $705,562m or 36% of total assets;
• United States of America with $335,231m or 17% of total assets; and
• United Kingdom with $285,422m or 15% of total assets.
   

Total liabilities of all Australian owned foreign affiliates were $1,630,497m.

Liabilities of the Australian owned foreign affiliate, by industry included:

• Financial and insurance services with $1,442,237m or 88% of total liabilities.

Liabilities of the Australian owned foreign affiliate, by location (country) saw:

• New Zealand with $645,203m or 40% of total liabilities;
• United States of America with $250,200m or 15% of total liabilities; and
• United Kingdom with $229,628m or 14% of total liabilities.
   

Total capital expenditure of all Australian owned foreign affiliates was $25,476m.

Capital expenditure of the Australian owned foreign affiliate, by industry included:

• Mining with $9,979m or 39% of total capital expenditure;
• Professional, scientific and technical services with $5,869m or 23% of total capital expenditure; and
• Manufacturing with $2,633m or 10% of total capital expenditure.
   

Total Industry Value Added (IVA) of all Australian owned foreign affiliates was $159,682m.

IVA of the Australian owned foreign affiliate, by location (country) included,

• New Zealand with $44,974m or 28% of total IVA;
• United States of America with $23,655m or 15% of total IVA; and
• United Kingdom with $17,565m or 11% of total IVA.

IVA of the Australian owned foreign affiliate, by industry saw:

• Financial and insurance services with $79,215m or 50% of total IVA;
• Mining with $33,824m or 21% of total IVA; and
• Manufacturing with $11,434m or 7% of total IVA.
   

This publication presents the results from the Survey of Australian Owned Foreign Businesses (SAOFB), which was conducted by the ABS with respect to the 2018-19 financial year. The survey collected information on the number, industry, sales, purchases, employment and wages and salaries of the foreign affiliates (footnote 1) of Australian resident enterprises.

Australian ownership as presented in this publication represents overseas businesses controlled by an Australian parent enterprise group via a voting share of 50% or more (footnote 2).

The data collected in the SAOFB generally represented the 12 month period ended 30 June 2019. However, where businesses reported data on a different basis an alternate or off-June year accounting period was used. As a result, in some instances estimates may reflect trading conditions occurring outside of the published reference year.

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

There have been various changes in the data items used to produce estimates of the economic activity of Australian owned foreign affiliates between the 2003-03 and 2018-19 issues. A summary of these changes is presented below, with more information on the comparability between the 2002-03 and 2018-19 issues included in the Methodology of this publication.

Sixteen new variables have been added to this issue of the publication:

• Compensation of employees;
• Contractors and commissions;
• Sales of goods and services;
• Sales of services to the Australian parent;
• Purchases of goods and services;
• Total operating income;
• Total operating expenses;
• Operating profit before tax;
• Taxable Profit;
• Profits returned to Australia;
• Australian equity in the affiliates;
• Total assets;
• Total liabilities;
• Capital expenditure; and
• Industry value added.

Two variables have been removed from this issue of the publication:

• Exports of goods and services; and
• Imports of goods and services.

Two new categories have been added to this issue of the publication:

• Economic Activity of Australian Affiliates Abroad: Number of Foreign Affiliates by SISCA of Australian Parent and Industry of Foreign Affiliate (i.e, categorised by Non-financial and Financial sectors); and
• Economic Activity of Australian Affiliates Abroad: All Industries by Type of Ownership of Australian Parent (i.e., categorised by Australian headquartered, and Foreign headquartered).
   

For further information about these and related statistics, please contact the National Information and Referral Service on 1300 135 070, or email client.services@abs.gov.au. The ABS Privacy Policy outlines how the ABS will handle any personal information that you provide to us.

This release previously used catalogue number 5495.0.