MAY KEY FIGURES

		Mar 2011	Apr 2011	May 2011	Apr 11 to May 11
		$m	$m	$m	% change
BALANCE ON GOODS AND SERVICES
	Trend estimates	1 636	1 635	1 689	. .
	Seasonally adjusted	1 747	1 617	2 333	. .
CREDITS (Exports of goods & services)
	Trend estimates	25 046	25 375	25 697	1
	Seasonally adjusted	25 015	25 445	26 258	3
DEBITS (Imports of goods & services)
	Trend estimates	23 410	23 740	24 009	1
	Seasonally adjusted	23 268	23 829	23 926	-
. . not applicable
- nil or rounded to zero (including null cells)

Balance on Goods and Services

MAY KEY POINTS


BALANCE ON GOODS AND SERVICES

• The trend estimate of the balance on goods and services was a surplus of $1,689m in May 2011, a rise of $54m on the surplus in April 2011.
• In seasonally adjusted terms, the balance on goods and services was a surplus of $2,333m in May 2011, a rise of $716m on the surplus in April 2011.

CREDITS (EXPORTS OF GOODS & SERVICES)

• In seasonally adjusted terms, goods and services credits rose $813m (3%) to $26,258m. Non-monetary gold rose $536m (49%), rural goods rose $172m (6%) and non-rural goods rose $103m (1%). Net exports of goods under merchanting remained steady at $35m. Services credits rose $1m.

DEBITS (IMPORTS OF GOODS & SERVICES)

• In seasonally adjusted terms, goods and services debits rose $97m to $23,926m. Consumption goods rose $204m (4%) and intermediate and other merchandise goods rose $159m (2%). Capital goods fell $347m (8%) and non-monetary gold fell $23m (6%). Services debits rose $104m (2%).

NOTES

FORTHCOMING ISSUES

ISSUE	Release Date
June 2011	3 August 2011
July 2011	8 September 2011
August 2011	4 October 2011
September 2011	8 November 2011
October 2011	12 December 2011
November 2011	10 January 2012

REVISIONS

Revisions have been made to incorporate the latest data relating to international merchandise trade and international trade in services. The international trade in goods and services on a balance of payments basis series have been revised from July 2010 onwards.

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 the 10 months to April 2011 by $189m.

Seasonally adjusted and trend series have been revised due to the incorporation of the revisions and estimates for the latest month.


IRON ORE AND COAL VALUES

Adjustments have been made to the value of the 'metal ores and minerals' and 'coal, coke and briquettes' components in the balance of payments series. See the section Commodity value adjustment for details.


RELATED RELEASES

The publication Australian Outward Finance and Insurance Foreign Affiliate Trade, 2009-10 (cat. no. 5485.0) was released on 27 June 2011. This publication presents details of the activities of the foreign affiliates of Australian resident finance and insurance businesses. The details include number of affiliates and their employment by country and by industry, and sales and purchases of services.


IMPACT OF NATURAL DISASTERS

The collection and processing of data included in this publication were not disrupted by the Japanese earthquake and tsunami. See the section Impact of natural disasters 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.