5368.0 - International Trade in Goods and Services, Australia, Apr 2012 Quality Declaration 
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 08/06/2012   
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APRIL KEY FIGURES

Feb 2012
Mar 2012
Apr 2012
Mar 12 to Apr 12
$m
$m
$m
% change

BALANCE ON GOODS AND SERVICES
Trend estimates
–675
–913
–1 025
. .
Seasonally adjusted
–776
–1 282
–203
. .
CREDITS (Exports of goods & services)
Trend estimates
25 394
25 213
25 119
Seasonally adjusted
24 426
25 244
26 082
3
DEBITS (Imports of goods & services)
Trend estimates
26 069
26 126
26 144
Seasonally adjusted
25 202
26 526
26 285
–1

. . not applicable
– nil or rounded to zero (including null cells)

Balance on Goods and Services
Graph: This graph shows the Balance on Goods and Services for the Trend and Seasonally adjusted series



APRIL KEY POINTS


BALANCE ON GOODS AND SERVICES
  • In trend terms, the balance on goods and services was a deficit of $1,025m in April 2012, a rise of $112m on the deficit in March 2012.
  • In seasonally adjusted terms, the balance on goods and services was a deficit of $203m in April 2012, a fall of $1,079m on the deficit in March 2012.


CREDITS (EXPORTS OF GOODS & SERVICES)
  • In seasonally adjusted terms, goods and services credits rose $838m (3%) to $26,082m. Non-rural goods rose $746m (4%) and rural goods rose $86m (3%). Non-monetary gold fell $24m (2%). Net exports of goods under merchanting remained steady at $30m. Services credits rose $30m (1%).


DEBITS (IMPORTS OF GOODS & SERVICES)
  • In seasonally adjusted terms, goods and services debits fell $241m (1%) to $26,285m. Intermediate and other merchandise goods fell $465m (5%) and non-monetary gold fell $43m (10%). Capital goods rose $103m (2%) and consumption goods rose $75m (1%). Services debits rose $89m (2%).


NOTES

FORTHCOMING ISSUES

ISSUE Release Date
May 2012 5 July 2012
June 2012 2 August 2012
July 2012 7 September 2012
August 2012 3 October 2012
September 2012 5 November 2012
October 2012 6 December 2012



REVISIONS

Revisions have been made to incorporate the latest data relating to international merchandise trade and information on capital goods that have changed ownership but have not yet crossed the customs frontier:
Table 17 summarises revisions to goods and services on a balance of payments basis, in original current price terms, since the last issue of this publication. In original terms, the revisions have:
  • increased the surplus on goods and services for 2010–11 by $76m
  • decreased the surplus on goods and services for the nine months to March 2012 by $878m.


CHANGES IN THIS ISSUE

An improvement to the seasonal adjustment methodology of the current price value of the 'coal, coke and briquettes' component has been introduced from July 2005 onwards. Previously the 'coal, coke and briquettes' component had only a length–of–month adjustment applied, which is maintained up to June 2005. This change in methodology will be closely monitored as part of our ongoing improvement program.


VALUE ADJUSTMENTS

Adjustments have been made to the value of the 'metal ores and minerals', 'coal, coke and briquettes' and 'capital goods n.e.s.' components in the balance of payments series.

See the section Commodity value adjustment for details.


RELATED RELEASES

See the section Related releases for details.


INQUIRIES

For further information contact Selvi Sekhar on Canberra (02) 6252 5540 for Goods, and Lee Taylor on Canberra (02) 6252 6377 for Services.