5302.0.55.004 - Balance of Payments - Goods and Services, Preliminary Quarterly Estimates, Mar 2013  
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 28/05/2013   
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The ABS provides information on Australia's international trade in goods and services in three publications:

  • International Trade in Goods and Services, Australia (cat. no. 5368.0) provides monthly current price estimates for both credits (exports) and debits (imports).
  • This publication provides the following selected broad level preliminary quarterly estimates for the current quarter:
    • current price estimates of the balance on goods and services, and
    • chain volume measures and price indexes for goods debits.
  • Balance of Payments and International Investment Position, Australia (cat. no. 5302.0) provides quarterly estimates in current prices, chain volume measures and price indexes for goods and services credits and debits plus the full balance of payments and international investment position in current prices.

Estimates may be revised between the monthly estimates in cat. no. 5368.0, the preliminary estimates in this publication and the quarterly estimates in cat. no. 5302.0. The March quarter issue of Balance of Payments and International Investment Position, Australia (cat. no. 5302.0) will be released on 4 June 2013.


PRELIMINARY CURRENT PRICE ESTIMATES OF BALANCE ON GOODS AND SERVICES
  • In seasonally adjusted current price terms, the balance on goods and services was a surplus of $367m in the March quarter 2013, a turnaround of $5,578m on the December quarter 2012 deficit of $5,211m. The main components contributing to the turnaround to surplus were:
    • goods credits, up $2,215m (4%)
      • metal ores and minerals, up $2,168m (11%).
    • services credits, up $234m (2%)
      • other services, up $170m (5%).
    • goods debits, down $2,980m (5%)
      • capital goods n.e.s., down $1,083m (26%).
    • services debits, down $149m (1%)
      • transport, down $105m (2%), with passenger transport down $60m (3%).
  • Goods and services debits data, in original and seasonally adjusted terms, have been revised since the release of the March 2013 issue of International Trade in Goods and Services, Australia (cat. no. 5368.0).


PRELIMINARY ESTIMATES OF CHAIN VOLUME MEASURES AND PRICE INDEXES FOR GOODS DEBITS (footnote 1, footnote 2)
  • In seasonally adjusted terms, goods imports volumes fell 4.4% and the implicit price deflator fell 0.3% during the March quarter 2013.
  • In original terms, the chain Laspeyres price index rose 0.2% and the implicit price deflator rose 0.4%.


INQUIRIES

For further information contact Val Tot on Canberra (02) 6252 5540.


1 Reference year for chain volume measures and price index is 2010–11. See paragraphs 16 to 18 of the Explanatory Notes.

2 In this commentary movements in indexes are based on data to four decimal places.