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:

on a recorded trade basis, international merchandise exports and imports have been revised back to October 2011
on a balance of payments basis, the goods debits, 'capital goods' component has been revised back to July 2010. No other components in the balance of payments series have been revised. The revised goods debits data aligns with the data published in the March quarter 2012 issues of Balance of Payments and International Investment Position, Australia (cat. no. 5302.0) and Australian National Accounts: National Income, Expenditure and Product (cat. no. 5206.0).

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.