Australian Bureau of Statistics
Celebrating the International Year of Statistics 2013

Competitiveness and openness, while not given headline status, has nevertheless been included as a supplementary dimension because of its relevance to whether life in Australia is getting better.

Over the previous decade there has been a moderate decrease in real unit labour costs and this is likely to have had a positive effect on Australia's international competitiveness.

During the same period, the trade weighted index (the value of the Australian dollar relative to the currencies of our major trading partners) decreased between 1999 and 2001, increased until 2008 and then decreased. 

Real unit labour costs

Trade weighted index