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EXPLANATORY NOTES


INTRODUCTION

1 This publication provides an analysis of the characteristics and international trading activities of Australian exporters in 2007-08 with limited comparisons to previous years. Although the ABS released a series of articles on the number and characteristics of Australian exporters covering 2001-02, 2002-03 and 2003-04, care should be exercised when comparing these earlier estimates with estimates from 2005-06. The reasons for this break in series are outlined in paragraphs 2 and 3.

2 Estimates relating to exporters of merchandise goods are compiled from data sourced from the Australian Customs Service (Customs) and from the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) Australian Business Register (ABR). The methodology used to derive numbers of goods exporters was changed in 2006, and estimates for 2005-06 onwards cannot be compared to previous years. More details about this revised methodology are contained in the feature article New Methodology for Deriving Counts of Australian Exporters (cat. no. 5368.0) issued on 7 April 2006.

3 Estimates relating to exporters of services are derived from the ABS Survey of International Trade in Services (SITS). The coverage of SITS was improved during 2005-06 with the identified population of businesses exporting and/or importing services increasing from 3,299 to 4,615. For more information about these changes please refer to Changes to International Trade in Services Statistics, August 2006 released with the August 2006 issue of International Trade in Goods and Services (cat. no. 5368.0). There has been minimal change to this population in the ensuing years.


WHAT IS AN EXPORTER?

4 An exporter is defined as the owner of the exported good or the provider of the exported service. Using balance of payments principles, if an export takes place, it must involve a resident selling something to a non-resident (i.e. it involves a change of ownership from an Australian resident to a non-resident). International trade in services statistics are compiled on balance of payments principles and only cover transactions between Australian residents and non-residents.

5 Exporters are identified by Australian Business Number (ABN) or, for some goods exporters, Customs Client Identifier (CCID). The CCID is an identifier provided by Customs to exporting businesses that do not have or do not report an ABN. For goods exporters the ABN or CCID is that of the owner of goods as provided on Customs documentation for each export. Note that a company that trades under multiple ABNs and/or CCIDs during a financial year will be counted for each ABN/CCID used. Joint ventures that represent multiple companies but trade under a single ABN/CCID will be identified as a single exporter.

6 Information on exporters of goods is compiled from merchandise trade statistics and is usually, but not always, consistent with balance of payments principles. In a small number of cases a non-resident may own the goods at the time of departure. As there would usually have been a transaction between an Australian resident and a non-resident prior to the goods physically leaving Australia, it is assumed, for the purpose of these statistics, that all owners of goods at the time of their export are Australian residents and are therefore included in the counts of exporters.

7 There are a number of situations that impact on the interpretation of the count and characteristics of exporters including:

• Exports of goods excludes export consignments with a value of less than $2,000.
• Australian businesses that sell goods or services to other Australian businesses which undertake the exporting function are excluded, for example:
  • Many agricultural products are exported from Australia by wholesalers (such as commodity marketing boards) rather than by the producer;
  • A principal consultant may export a consultancy service which comprises the work of a number of Australian sub-consultants;
  • A business may export a product which is assembled from components made by a number of Australian businesses.
• Some analysts include the individual businesses providing commodities, components, other goods or services for export in their definition of 'exporters' or at least consider them to be involved in export-related activity. However, unless the businesses actually own the goods or provide the service at the time of export, they are not included in the ABS count of exporters.
• Service exporters include businesses which provide services from their Australian base to consumers offshore, i.e. supply modes 1 and 4 in the classification used by the World Trade Organisation. However, smaller and/or occasional exporters are unlikely to come to ABS notice and are therefore not included in the estimates. The number of excluded businesses may be significant, but the value of their exports is not thought to be appreciable in the totality of service exports. The ABS continues to try to identify these businesses and incorporate them into its estimates.
• Service exporters exclude businesses that only supply goods or services to foreign tourists or students in Australia (supply mode 2), such as hotels, restaurants, retail, tourist facilities, transport, theatres, educational institutions, etc. In concept these businesses should be included in counts of exporters. However, estimates of these services are compiled from information obtained from the consumers of these services rather than from the businesses providing the services.
• Goods and services exporters exclude Australian-owned businesses located overseas supplying goods or services in or from the country in which they are located (supply mode 3 and usually called foreign affiliates trade), because their trade does not directly contribute to Australia's exports of goods and services.

• Industry of the business based on the Australian and New Zealand Standard Industrial Classification (ANZSIC)
• Main state of business location, based on main business address
• States in which the business is located
• Number of payees and Goods and Services Tax (GST) turnover range. These indicators are used in determining the size of the business.

• Information obtained from the ABR for businesses is relevant to the point in time about a month after the finish of each financial year. This means that the location, industry and size information for some businesses may differ between the financial years. For example the size category allocated to exporting businesses may be impacted by an increase in GST turnover.
• A business may have more than one ABN and the ABN quoted on export documentation may be the ABN of a part of the business not actually producing the exports. As a result, characteristics obtained from the ABR (e.g. the main state or the industry of the business) could relate to a corporate head office.
• A business located in a state may export goods produced in different states.

• Value of exports
• State of origin of the commodity
• Industry of origin of the commodity.

• The postcode of the exporter is in the same state as the state of origin of the export, or
• The exporter has multi-state locations, one of which matches the state of origin of the export.

• Small exporters - having fewer than 20 payees and estimated annual GST turnover range less than $1m and exports of less than $1m during the reference period
• Large exporters - having 200 or more payees or estimated annual GST turnover range of $20m or more or exports of $20m or more during the reference period
• Medium exporters - all businesses other than those defined as small or large.