Economic trends
Australia is the world’s thirteenth largest economic power. After a slowing down due to global recession, in 2010 the Australian economy has been growing again, with an estimated growth rate of 3 % of the GDP. This good economic performance owes to the government’s fiscal policy of incentives, by the increase in household consumption and especially by the continuous Chinese demand which helps exports.
The Australian government’s priorities are to improve the country’s competitiveness, namely with regards to the export competition of Asian countries and to deal with the challenges of its aging population and its environment which is vulnerable to climatic problems (droughts).
Australia is a prosperous country and its per capita GDP is amongst the highest in the world. Despite the recent increase in unemployment rate due to the global economic crisis, it remains consistently low, around 5%.
Main branches of industry
The tertiary sector occupies a dominant position in the Australian economy (more than three-fourths of the GDP), but the agricultural and mining sectors are the most important for its exports. 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, the export of which ensures it substantial revenues. Australia is among 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 the small scale of its manufacturing sector, which 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 chemical-petrochemical industry (slightly more than 10%).
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.
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Last updates: February 2012
