International Trade in Goods

Latest release

Exports and imports statistics on a balance of payments and international merchandise trade basis

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Reference period
March 2026
Released
7/05/2026
  • Next Release 4/06/2026
    International Trade in Goods, April 2026
  • Next Release 2/07/2026
    International Trade in Goods, May 2026
  • Next Release 6/08/2026
    International Trade in Goods, June 2026
  • View all releases
Release date and time
07/05/2026 11:30am AEST

Key statistics

  • The seasonally adjusted balance on goods decreased $6,867m in March.
  • The March month balance on goods is a seasonally adjusted deficit of $1,841m, the first deficit since December 2017.
  • Goods credits (exports) decreased $1,214m (2.7%) driven by Other rural.
  • Goods debits (imports) increased $5,652m (14.1%) driven by ADP equipment.
  • On an original basis the March month balance on goods was a surplus of $1,241m. 

Trade overview

Key Figures, seasonally adjusted
 Jan 26 ($m)Feb 26 ($m)Mar 26 ($m)Feb 26 to Mar 26 ($m)Feb 26 to Mar 26 (%)
Balance on goods2,1145,026-1,841-6,867na
 Credits (Exports of goods)43,33545,14343,929-1,214-2.7
 Debits (Imports of goods)-41,221-40,118-45,7705,65214.1

na not applicable

Additional data on imports of Petroleum products has been included in the Selected commodities section of this publication.

  1. Large month-to-month changes occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic, resulting in multiple trend breaks. The ABS recommends caution when using trend estimates published in spreadsheets for this period.

Goods credits

  1. Large month-to-month changes occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic, resulting in multiple trend breaks. The ABS recommends caution when using trend estimates published in spreadsheets for this period.
Goods credits, seasonally adjusted
 Jan 26 ($m)Feb 26 ($m)Mar 26 ($m)Feb 26 to Mar 26 ($m)Feb 26 to Mar 26 (%)
Total goods credits43,33545,14343,929-1,214-2.7
 General merchandise37,20037,18936,455-734-2.0
  Rural goods6,3707,1446,316-828-11.6
  Non-rural goods30,83030,04530,139940.3
 Net exports of goods under merchanting(a)606058-2-3.3
 Non-monetary gold(a)6,0757,8947,416-478-6.1
  1. This component is not seasonally adjusted.

Rural goods

Non-rural goods

Goods debits

  1. Large month-to-month changes occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic, resulting in multiple trend breaks. The ABS recommends caution when using trend estimates published in spreadsheets for this period.
Goods debits(a), seasonally adjusted
 Jan 26 ($m)Feb 26 ($m)Mar 26 ($m)Feb 26 to Mar 26 ($m)Feb 26 to Mar 26 (%)
Total goods debits-41,221-40,118-45,7705,65214.1
 General merchandise debits-37,910-38,175-43,1474,97213.0
  Consumption goods-12,025-12,366-12,5181521.2
  Capital goods-10,107-9,266-12,6773,41136.8
  Intermediate and other merchandise goods-15,779-16,542-17,9531,4118.5
 Non-monetary gold(b)-3,311-1,943-2,62368035.0
  1. For sign conventions, see the methodology page.
  2. This component is not seasonally adjusted.

Consumption goods

Capital goods

Intermediate and other merchandise goods

Selected commodities

Percentage movements of selected commodities by quantities and unit value. An exchange rate adjustment is applied to any commodity data reported to Home Affairs in foreign currencies. All unit values in this publication are presented in Australian dollar terms.

Selected export commodities, quantities(a)
 Month on month (% change)Through the year (% change)(b)
 Jan 26Feb 26Mar 26Mar 25 to Mar 26
Iron ore - Lump-6.8-18.511.4-13.6
Iron ore - Fines-9.3-19.616.4-6.4
Coal - Hard coking-23.1-13.614.7-20.5
Coal - Semi-soft-26.37.113.66.2
Coal - Thermal-20.1-20.213.9-12.2
Gas - LNG0.5-12.113.82.0
  1. Data in this table is on an international merchandise trade basis and excludes value adjustments applied to balance of payments series.
  2. Change between the current month and the corresponding month of the previous year.
Selected import commodities, quantities(a)
 Month on month (% change)Through the year (% change)(b)
 Jan 26Feb 26Mar 26Mar 25 to Mar 26
Crude Petroleum0.1-24.440.814.9
Gasoline23.0-15.718.839.2
Diesel-2.5-8.3-11.6-14.1
Kerosene (Aviation Fuel)-6.8-14.1-6.920.3
  1. Data in this table is on an international merchandise trade basis and excludes value adjustments applied to balance of payments series.
  2. Change between the current month and the corresponding month of the previous year.
Selected export commodities, unit values(a)
 Month on month (% change)Through the year (% change)(b)
 Jan 26Feb 26Mar 26Mar 25 to Mar 26
Iron ore - Lump-1.1-8.19.1-7.0
Iron ore - Fines-0.7-6.40.1-11.7
Coal - Hard coking3.60.40.46.4
Coal - Semi-soft-0.83.77.02.7
Coal - Thermal-0.3-0.31.60.2
Gas - LNG-4.6-4.60.4-18.7
  1. Data in this table is on an international merchandise trade basis and excludes value adjustments applied to balance of payments series.
  2. Change between the current month and the corresponding month of the previous year.
Selected import commodities, unit values(a)
 Month on month (% change)Through the year (% change)(b)
 Jan 26Feb 26Mar 26Mar 25 to Mar 26
Crude Petroleum-1.14.725.28.1
Gasoline-8.6-0.720.6-1.3
Diesel-5.00.142.228.2
Kerosene (Aviation Fuel)-5.90.542.731.0
  1. Data in this table is on an international merchandise trade basis and excludes value adjustments applied to balance of payments series.
  2. Change between the current month and the corresponding month of the previous year.

Country movements

Value adjustments

Goods credits on an international merchandise trade basis

On a merchandise trade basis, adjustments have been applied to iron ore lumps and iron ore fines. When final transaction information becomes available, the adjusted estimates are replaced with this data. For price and volume details, see the Selected commodities section.

Goods credits on a balance of payments basis

Coal (in original terms)

Adjustments to the value of coal, coke and briquettes exports are applied to account for delays in reporting of final export contract prices. These adjustments are applied on a balance of payments basis, resulting in differences between merchandise trade and balance of payments basis unit value data. When final transaction information becomes available, revisions are incorporated on a merchandise trade basis and the balance of payments adjustment is replaced with final data.

In the international merchandise trade series, the unit value of coal, coke and briquettes rose 2.4% between January 2026 and February 2026 and rose 2.6% between February 2026 and March 2026.

Coal, coke and briquettes adjustment, BoP Basis
 Sep-25 ($m)Oct-25 ($m)Nov-25 ($m)Dec-25 ($m)Jan-26 ($m)Feb-26 ($m)Mar-26 ($m)
Coal, coke and briquettes-5--5120-25

In the balance of payments series, the unit value of coal, coke and briquettes rose 5.1% between January 2026 and February 2026 and fell 0.6% between February 2026 and March 2026.

Goods debits on a balance of payments basis

Adjustments to the value of Fuels and lubricants imports are applied to account for delays in reporting of final prices. This adjustment is applied on a balance of payments basis, resulting in differences between merchandise trade and balance of payments basis data. When final transaction information becomes available, revisions are incorporated on a merchandise trade basis and the balance of payments adjustment is replaced with final data.

Confidential Commodities List

International trade in goods statistics are subject to confidentiality. Where necessary, a restriction is placed, at the commodity level, to restrict the level of detail available. Depending on the nature of restriction, this may be all detail relating to the product (no commodity details), or a restriction of only some variables (e.g. selected country details). Users of this publication and other international trade statistics should use the Confidential Commodities List (CCL) in Table 92 to determine whether a particular statistic has been subject to confidentiality restrictions, and therefore may not represent the true aggregate value.

The CCL Data Cube registers all import and export commodities subject to a confidentiality restriction and presents information under the following headings:

  • changes and new restrictions to import items in the current month
  • changes and new restrictions to export items in the current month
  • all import restrictions from January 1988 to the current month
  • all export restrictions from January 1988 to the current month.

There are additional confidentiality applications that impact ABS international trade in goods statistics that are not reflected in this data cube. These are presented in the International Merchandise Trade, Australia: Concepts, Sources and Methods which also provides more detailed information on international merchandise trade confidentiality. 

For further information, including how to interpret the Confidential Commodities List, please see the Explanatory Notes section in Table 92. 

Data downloads

Time series spreadsheets

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Data files

Data Cubes

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Data files

  • Table 18. Balance of payments broad economic categories (detailed level), by country, latest 7 months, customs value, ($million)

    Download xlsx [265.46 KB]

  • Table 19. Balance of payments broad economic categories (1 and 2 digit), by country, latest 7 months, customs value, ($million)

    Download xlsx [163.42 KB]

Data Explorer datasets

Caution: Data in Data Explorer is currently released after the 11:30 am release on the ABS website. Please check the reference period when using Data Explorer.

International Trade in Goods on a Balance of Payments Basis - Value of exports and imports in original, seasonally adjusted and trend, monthly, July 1971 onwards

Merchandise Exports by Commodity (SITC) - Value of exports on an merchandise trade basis, by country and state, monthly, January 1995 onwards

Merchandise Imports by Commodity (SITC) - Value of imports on a merchandise trade basis, by country and state, monthly, January 1995 onwards

For information on Data Explorer and how it works, refer to the Data Explorer user guide.

Revisions

Revisions have been made to incorporate the latest data since the last issue of this publication.

On an international merchandise trade basis, goods exports and imports have been revised back to September 2025.

On a balance of payments basis, revisions have been applied to:

  • Goods exports back to September 2025
  • Goods imports back to September 2025

Table 17 summarises revisions to goods on a balance of payments basis since the last issue of this publication.

Previous catalogue number

This release previously used catalogue number 5368.0.

Methodology

Scope

This publication includes: 

  • Preliminary estimates of Australia's international trade in goods on a balance of payments basis.

  • International trade in goods on a merchandise trade basis. 

     

Geography

Data is available for:

  • Australia
  • States and territories

Partner country trade data is attributed based on the country of origin for imports and country of final destination for exports. 

Source

International merchandise trade data (exports and imports) are primarily based on administrative data from customs declarations collected by the Department of Home Affairs (Home Affairs).

Collection method

  • Merchandise trade data are primarily compiled from administrative customs data
  • Adjustments for classification, coverage and timing are made to international merchandise trade data to convert them to a balance of payments basis.

Concepts, sources and methods

Descriptions of the underlying concepts and methods used on a merchandise trade basis are available in International Merchandise Trade, Australia: Concepts, Sources and Methods.

History of changes

From the September 2023 reference month release, international trade in services data is no longer produced on a monthly basis. 

View full methodology