Australia

Capital: Canberra

Local time:
It is %T:%M %A in Canberra, Melbourne, Sydney
It is %T:%M %A in Adelaide
It is %T:%M %A in Perth

Exchange rate on :

GDP growth rate: 3.5% in 2012

FDI stock: 312 275 million USD in 2007

Country risk: See the country risk analysis from Australia provided by Ducroire.

Economic trends

Australian was not spared from the 2008-2009 global economic crisis: six of its primary trade partners were in recession in 2008-2009. Its unemployment rate, which remains low, did all the same reach 5.2% in June 2009. The country also shows a deficit in the public accounts and at one point, its currency was weakened against the Euro and the American dollar.
Nevertheless, Australia has avoided the recession, thanks to its organized and healthy solid banking system, a very active government with "anti-crisis" measures, the "Chinese outlet", the country's main natural resource customer, and a currency which became stronger from September 2009, recovering to its previous pre-crisis level and thus reducing the price of its imports.
However, the global crisis brought to an end an exceptional period of growth for a developed country (with an average annual rate of 3.6% since 1992 due to growing domestic demand and a significant and regular increase in exports). Inflation should drop during 2010 and household consumption should be maintained in the coming years.
Australia currently has two main challenges: its aging population and the increase in value of its currency which weakens its competitiveness, especially in relation to other Asian countries.

Main branches of industry

Australia is a vast agricultural country and one of the world's main exporters of wool, meat, wheat and cotton. The country is overflowing with mineral and energy raw materials whose export ensures it substantial revenue. Australia is in the top 10 producers and exporters of most mineral ores. It has the world's greatest reserves of numerous strategic resources such as uranium, of which it has 40% of the world's proven reserves.
Traditionally Australia is a finished goods importer. Its industrialization is fairly recent, a fact which explains why its manufacturing sector is small and only employs 10% of the active population. The manufacturing industry is built up around the food industry (approximately a fifth of the workforce), machinery and equipment (around 20%), metal processing and metal goods (nearly 20%) and the chemistry-petrochemical industry (slightly more than 10%).
The tertiary sector occupies a dominant position in the Australian economy (more than three-fourth of the GDP).

International trade

Australia's external trade is characterized by a structural trade deficit. The increase in exports has not compensated for the high imports which are stimulated by a strong Australian dollar. In terms of continuous growth, and despite healthy exports, the deterioration of the current account balance and of the structural deficit are still the Australian economy's weak points.
The country is becoming more and more dependent on Asian economies and the price of raw materials. Australian foreign trade is not  well developed, a fact which reflects the country's relatively weak globalization integration. Australia must improve its infrastructures in order to redress the bottlenecks that have been restricting exports for a long time, so as to allow it to better integrate in global trade. The country's main trade partners are Southeast Asia, the United States and the European Union.

Learn more

For more information on Australia

The Country Profiles of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Countries information of the UK Trade and Investment Website

For more international news

Business News of the British Chamber

For more advices

The business advices of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Are You Ready to Export? - The online test of the UK Trade and Investment Website