International Investment Position, Australia: Supplementary Statistics

Australia's net IIP liability position at 31 December 2019 was $891.5b, a decrease of $126.4b on the previous year revised figure of $1,017.9b.

The level of foreign investment in Australia reached $3,844.5b at 31 December 2019, an increase of $278.9b (8%) on the previous year. Portfolio investment accounted for $1,996.4b (52%), direct investment for $1,019.5b (27%), other investment for $542.8b (14%) and financial derivatives for $285.8b (7%). Of the portfolio investment liabilities, debt securities accounted for $1,334.3b (35% of foreign investment in Australia) and equity securities for $662.1b (17% of foreign investment in Australia).

The leading investor countries were:

• United States of America $983.7b (26%)
• United Kingdom $686.1b (18%)
• Belgium $348.1b (9%)
• Japan $241.1b (6%)
• Hong Kong (SAR of China) $140.7b (4%)
• Singapore $99.9b (3%).
   

The level of Australian investment abroad reached $2,953.1b at 31 December 2019, an increase of $405.4b (16%) on the previous year. Portfolio investment accounted for $1,314.8b (45%), direct investment for $826.8b (28%), other investment for $450.7b (15%), financial derivatives for $275.1b (9%) and reserve assets for $85.7b (3%). Of the portfolio investment assets, equity securities accounted for $886.9b (30% of Australian investment abroad) and debt securities for $427.9b (14% of Australian investment abroad).

The leading investment destination countries were:

• United States of America $837.4b (28%)
• United Kingdom $507.4b (17%)
• Japan $139.6b (5%)
• New Zealand $130.5b (4%)
• Germany $97.1b (3%)
• China (excludes SARs and Taiwan) $85.3b (3%).
   

The financial account at 31 December 2019 recorded a deficit of $8.1b, a turnaround of $55.1b on the surplus of $47.1b recorded for the previous year.

Foreign investment in Australia recorded an outflow of $10.1b at 31 December 2019, a turnaround of $60.5b on the inflow of $50.5b for the previous year.

Leading countries recording an outflow during 2019 were:

• United Kingdom $46.0b
• United States of America $36.3b
• France $17.3b.
   

Partly offsetting these, leading countries recorded an inflow were:

• Belgium $27.3b
• Hong Kong (SAR of China) $14.4b
• New Zealand $10.5b.
   

Australian investment abroad recorded an inflow of $2.0b at 31 December 2019, a turnaround of $5.4b on an outflow of $3.4b for the previous year.

Leading countries recording an inflow during 2019 were:

• United Kingdom $58.8b
• France $10.8b
• Luxembourg $3.0b.
   

Partly offsetting these, leading countries recording an outflow were:

• Japan $19.4b
• United States of America $14.5b
• Singapore $8.0b.
   

Income debits recorded $117.6b at 31 December 2019, an increase of $0.1b on the previous year. The main countries to which income accrued at 31 December 2019 were:

• United States of America $29.0b (25%)
• United Kingdom $14.3b (12%)
• Japan $12.6b (11%)
• Belgium $5.1b (4%)
• Hong Kong (SAR of China) $3.6b (3%)
• Netherlands $3.4b (3%).
   

Income credits recorded $67.8b at 31 December 2019, an increase of $5.8b on the previous year. The main countries from which income accrued at 31 December 2019 were:

• United States of America $17.8b (26%)
• United Kingdom $5.9b (9%)
• New Zealand $4.7b (7%)
• China (excludes SARs and Taiwan) $2.5b (4%)
• Germany $2.1b (3%)
• Singapore $1.9b (3%).

A new Maritime Boundary Treaty between Australia and Timor-Leste came in to force on 30 August 2019. The new treaty provides exclusive jurisdiction of the former Joint Petroleum Development Area excluding Greater Sunrise in the Timor Sea to Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste. From this publication onwards, data contained within International Investment Position, Australia: Supplementary Statistics (cat. no. 5352.0) will reflect the new maritime boundary.

Revisions include incorporation of new estimates from the latest survey and administrative data which has resulted in revisions to International Investment data back to calendar year 2015.

Discrepancies may occur between totals in this publication and the same aggregates from other sources, and between sums of component items and totals due to rounding.

The ABS Privacy Policy outlines how the ABS would handle any personal information that you provide to us.

For further information about these and related statistics, contact the National Information and Referral Service on 1300 135 070 or International Accounts in Canberra at international.accounts@abs.gov.au.

This release previously used catalogue number 5352.0