International Trade in Goods and Services, Australia

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Statistics about international trade in goods and services, on a balance of payments and international trade basis

Reference period
September 2021
Released
4/11/2021

Key statistics

  • The seasonally adjusted balance on goods and services surplus decreased $2,496 to $12,243m in September
  • Goods and services credits (exports) fell $3,081m (6%) to $44,969m driven by falls in iron ore prices
  • Goods and services debits (imports) fell $586m (2%) to $32,725m driven by continued global supply chain constraints

A research article, Export and Import Invoice Currencies, has been published as part of this release. This article explores the major currencies used to invoice Australia's merchandise imports and exports.

Main features

Key Figures, Seasonally Adjusted

Key Figures, Seasonally Adjusted
  Jul-21 ($m)Aug-21 ($m)Sep-21 ($m)Aug-21 to Sep-21 ($m)Aug-21 to Sep-21 (%)
Balance on goods and services13,68814,73912,243- 2,496na
 Credits (Exports of goods & services)46,39548,05044,969- 3,081- 6
 Debits (Imports of goods & services)- 32,707- 33,311- 32,725- 586- 2

na not applicable

Balance on goods and services

Balance on goods and services

Line chart with 16 data points.
The chart has 1 X axis displaying .
The chart has 1 Y axis displaying $m. Data ranges from 2780 to 14739.
End of interactive chart.

Balance on goods and services

In seasonally adjusted terms, the balance on goods and services was a surplus of $12,243m in September 2021, a decrease of $2,496m on the surplus in August 2021. 

Balance on goods and services(a), seasonally adjusted

Balance on goods and services(a), seasonally adjusted
   Jul-21 ($m)Aug-21 ($m)Sep-21 ($m)Aug-21 to Sep-21 ($m)Aug-21 to Sep-21 (%)
Balance on goods and services13,68814,73912,243- 2,496na
 Total goods and services credits46,39548,05044,969- 3,081- 6
  Total goods credits41,48943,27740,039- 3,238- 7
  Total services credits4,9064,7724,9291573
 Total goods and services debits- 32,707- 33,311- 32,725- 586- 2
  Total goods debits- 28,400- 28,998- 28,221- 777- 3
  Total services debits- 4,307- 4,313- 4,5041914
        

na not applicable
(a) For sign conventions, see the Explanatory notes.

Goods and services credits (exports), seasonally adjusted

Goods credits

Chart

Line chart with 2 lines.
The chart has 1 X axis displaying .
The chart has 1 Y axis displaying $m. Data ranges from 24840 to 43277.
End of interactive chart.

(a) Trend series suspended from March 2019.

Goods credits, seasonally adjusted

Goods credits, seasonally adjusted
 Jul-21 ($m)Aug-21 ($m)Sep-21 ($m)Aug-21 to Sep-21 ($m)Aug-21 to Sep-21 (%)
Total goods credits41,48943,27740,039- 3,238- 7
 General merchandise39,37140,80938,564- 2,245- 6
  Rural goods4,8465,1415,15817-
  Non-rural goods34,52535,66933,406- 2,263- 6
 Net exports of goods under merchanting(a)343434--
 Non-monetary gold(a)2,0842,4341,441- 993- 41

- Nil or rounded to zero (including null cells)
(a) This component is not seasonally adjusted.

Services credits

Services Credits

Services Credits

Line chart with 2 lines.
The chart has 1 X axis displaying .
The chart has 1 Y axis displaying $m. Data ranges from 4772 to 8771.
End of interactive chart.

(a) Trend series suspended from March 2019.

Services credits, seasonally adjusted

Services credits, seasonally adjusted
 Jul-21 ($m)Aug-21 ($m)Sep-21 ($m)Aug-21 to Sep-21 ($m)Aug-21 to Sep-21 (%)
Total services credits4,9064,7724,9291573
 Manufacturing services on physical inputs owned by others(a)333--
 Maintenance and repair services n.i.e.(a)1132200
 Transport327323323--
  Passenger(b)(c)722--
  Freight(d)272726- 1- 4
  Other152152152--
  Postal and courier services(e)14114114211
 Travel(c)1,8761,7201,8511318
 Other services2,7002,7262,750241
Memorandum item     
 Tourism related services credits(f)1,8831,7221,8531318

- Nil or rounded to zero (including null cells) 
(a) This component is not seasonally adjusted. 
(b) Passenger transportation services includes agency fees and commissions for air transport. 
(c) This component has been seasonally adjusted using the forward factor method since March 2020 due to the impacts of COVID-19. 
(d) In using these seasonally adjusted series, care should be exercised because of the difficulties associated with reliably estimating the seasonal pattern. 
(e) Postal and courier services includes indirect commissions for sea transport. 
(f) For a more detailed explanation of tourism related services, see the Explanatory notes. 

Goods and services debits (imports), seasonally adjusted

Goods debits

Goods Debits

Goods Debits

Line chart with 2 lines.
The chart has 1 X axis displaying .
The chart has 1 Y axis displaying $m. Data ranges from 23882 to 28998.
End of interactive chart.

(a) Trend series suspended from March 2019.

Goods debits (imports) (a), seasonally adjusted

Goods debits (imports) (a), seasonally adjusted
 Jul-21 ($m)Aug-21 ($m)Sep-21 ($m)Aug-21 to Sep-21 ($m)Aug-21 to Sep-21 (%)
Total goods debits- 28,400- 28,998- 28,221- 777- 3
 General merchandise debits- 27,963- 28,407- 27,822- 585- 2
  Consumption goods- 9,326- 9,820- 8,833- 987- 10
  Capital goods- 7,066- 6,733- 7,1994667
  Intermediate and other merchandise goods- 11,571- 11,853- 11,791- 62- 1
 Non-monetary gold(b)- 437- 591- 399- 192- 32

(a) For sign conventions, see the Explanatory notes.
(b) This component is not seasonally adjusted.

Services debits

Chart

Line chart with 2 lines.
The chart has 1 X axis displaying .
The chart has 1 Y axis displaying $m. Data ranges from 3717 to 9187.
End of interactive chart.

(a) Trend series suspended from March 2019.

Services debits(a), seasonally adjusted

Services debits(a), seasonally adjusted
 Jul-21 ($m)Aug-21 ($m)Sep-21 ($m)Aug-21 to Sep-21 ($m)Aug-21 to Sep-21 (%)
Total services debits- 4,307- 4,313- 4,5041914
 Manufacturing services on physical inputs owned by others(b)-----
 Maintenance and repair services n.i.e.(b)- 54- 41- 37- 4- 10
 Transport- 1,462- 1,474- 1,64216811
  Passenger(c)(d)- 67- 21- 15- 6- 29
  Freight- 1,360- 1,417- 1,59317612
  Other(b)- 16- 16- 16--
  Postal and courier services(e)(f)- 19- 19- 18- 1- 5
 Travel(d)- 69- 75- 69- 6- 8
 Other services- 2,722- 2,724- 2,756321
Memorandum item     
 Tourism related services debits(g)- 136- 96- 84- 12- 13

- Nil or rounded to zero (including null cells) 
(a) For sign conventions, see the Explanatory Notes. 
(b) This component is not seasonally adjusted. 
(c) Passenger services includes agency fees and commissions for air transport. 
(d) This component has been seasonally adjusted using the forward factor method since March 2020 due to the impacts of COVID-19.
(e) Postal and courier services includes indirect commissions for sea transport. 
(f) In using these seasonally adjusted series, care should be exercised because of the difficulties associated with reliably estimating the seasonal pattern. 
(g) For a more detailed explanation of tourism related services, see the Explanatory notes. 

Supplementary information

Previous catalogue number

This release previously used catalogue number 5368.0.

Data downloads

Time series spreadsheets

Data files
Data files