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Tim Harcourt*
Chief Economist
Australian Trade Commission
Sydney
www.austrade.gov.au/economistscorner
In new data just released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), we can now confirm that China is now Australia’s number one trading partner – taking over from Japan in 2007. This status has now been achieved in both goods and services (previously it was just in merchandise trade). Japan had in turn, held this esteemed position since 2004 when it took over from the USA. China is also charging up the ranks as an export destination for Australia and is now in second position to Japan, who has held first place since 1966 (taking over from the UK which raised some eyebrows from a recently retired long serving Prime Minister!). China is also our second most important source of imports. So it’s gold, silver and silver to China leading up to the Beijing Olympics!
The new rankings are attached below:
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AUSTRALIA'S TRADE IN GOODS AND SERVICES |
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BY TOP TEN PARTNERS, 2007 (a) |
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(A$ million) |
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Australia's top 10 export markets |
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Goods |
Services |
Total |
% share |
Rank |
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Japan |
|
31,915 |
2,670 |
34,585 |
16.0 |
1 |
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China |
|
23,823 |
3,930 |
27,753 |
12.8 |
2 |
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United States of America |
10,019 |
5,783 |
15,802 |
7.3 |
3 |
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Republic of Korea |
13,465 |
1,857 |
15,322 |
7.1 |
4 |
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New Zealand |
9,474 |
3,405 |
12,879 |
6.0 |
5 |
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United Kingdom |
7,013 |
4,699 |
11,712 |
5.4 |
6 |
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India |
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9,281 |
2,062 |
11,343 |
5.2 |
7 |
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Singapore |
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4,067 |
3,171 |
7,238 |
3.3 |
8 |
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Taiwan |
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5,942 |
515 |
6,457 |
3.0 |
9 |
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Thailand |
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4,417 |
804 |
5,221 |
2.4 |
10 |
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Total exports |
168,339 |
48,041 |
216,380 |
100.0 |
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of which: |
APEC |
120,601 |
28,056 |
148,657 |
68.7 |
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ASEAN |
18,196 |
7,002 |
25,198 |
11.6 |
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European Union 27 |
19,174 |
8,693 |
27,867 |
12.9 |
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OECD |
88,586 |
23,881 |
112,467 |
52.0 |
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Australia's top 10 import sources |
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Goods |
Services |
Total |
% share |
Rank |
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United States of America |
23,651 |
8,254 |
31,905 |
13.6 |
1 |
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China |
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29,014 |
1,264 |
30,278 |
12.9 |
2 |
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Japan |
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18,045 |
1,922 |
19,967 |
8.5 |
3 |
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Singapore |
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10,475 |
4,708 |
15,183 |
6.5 |
4 |
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United Kingdom |
8,100 |
4,020 |
12,120 |
5.2 |
5 |
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Germany |
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9,740 |
1,350 |
11,090 |
4.7 |
6 |
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Thailand |
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7,890 |
1,610 |
9,500 |
4.1 |
7 |
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New Zealand |
6,246 |
2,393 |
8,639 |
3.7 |
8 |
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Malaysia |
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7,326 |
1,017 |
8,343 |
3.6 |
9 |
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