International Trade: Supplementary Information, Calendar Year

Latest release

Detailed calendar year statistics on international trade in goods and services, by country and state

Reference period
2023

Key statistics

  • Australia's balance on goods and services was a surplus of $144,309m in 2023
  • Total goods and services exports rose $1,770m (0.3%) to $671,077m
  • Total goods and services imports rose $13,470m (2.6%) to $526,768m

Overview

Total exports

Total exports rose $1,770m (0.3%) in 2023.

The top 5 exporting partners for Australia were:

  1. China rose $33,613m (18.2%) to $218,801m
  2. Japan fell $29,729m (24.8%) to $90,160m
  3. South Korea fell $10,445m (19.3%) to $43,662m
  4. India rose $124m (0.4%) to $35,195m
  5. United States of America rose $2,610m (8.4%) to $33,566m

These five countries made up 62.8% of Australia’s total international trade in exports.

 

Total imports

Total imports rose $13,470m (2.6%) in 2023.

The top 5 importing partners for Australia were:

  1. China fell $7,060m (6.1%) to $108,137m
  2. United States of America rose $4,719m (7.8%) to $65,107m
  3. Japan rose $1,607m (5.6%) to $30.548m
  4. South Korea fell $700m (2.5%) to $27,319m
  5. Singapore fell $3,258 (11.9%) to $23,957m

These five countries made up 48.4% of Australia’s total international trade in imports.

 

Trade in services

In 2023:

  • The balance on trade in services was a surplus of $704m
  • Services credits (exports) rose $38,080m (50.5%) to $113,524m
  • Services debits (imports) rose $16,538 (17.2%) to $112,820m

Services exports

Total exports of services rose 50.5% in 2023, which exceeded pre-pandemic levels of 2019 by $11,943m (11.8%).

In 2023:

  • Education-related travel rose $21,229m (79.8%)
  • Other personal travel rose $11,139m (147.3%)
  • Charges for the use of intellectual property rose $1,701m (27.5%)

 

Services exports by state

In 2023, all states experienced a recovery in services exports with the strongest growth in South Australia which rose $2,296m (81.9%) and Queensland, which rose $6,115m (70.6%).

New South Wales accounted for 46.0% of all services exports, followed by Victoria, with 25.0%.
 

Services exports by country

In 2023:

  • China was Australia’s largest services export partner, accounting for 12.9% of total services exports.
  • Total exports to China rose by $5,101m (53.4%) driven by education-related travel with the return of students from China to on-shore study.
  • United States of America was Australia’s second largest services export partner, accounting for 10.7% of total services exports. 
  • Services exports to the United States of America rose $1,976 (19.5%), also driven by travel exports.
     
Proportion of services exports by country
2022$m%2023$m%
United States of America10,13813.4China 14,65112.9
China 9,55012.7United States of America12,11410.7
Asia, nes6,4398.5Asia, nes11,60510.2
United Kingdom5,7977.7India9,9758.8
India5,6177.4United Kingdom7,4156.5
Singapore4,6676.2New Zealand6,2545.5
New Zealand4,5316.0Singapore5,5104.9
Hong Kong 1,8832.5America, nes3,3062.9
Ireland1,7652.3Hong Kong2,9132.6
America, nes1,6342.2Indonesia2,5682.3
All other countries23,42331.0All other countries37,21332.8
Total75,444100.0Total113,524100.0

Where figures have been rounded, discrepancies may occur between sums of the component items and totals.

Services imports

Total imports of services rose $16,538m (17.2%) to $112,820m in 2023.

The key drivers of the increase were:

  • Travel services rose $17,323m (73.8%), driven by other personal related travel services.
  • Other services rose $5,615m (14.3%), driven by a rise in professional and management consulting services. 

Partially offsetting, transport services fell $6,400m (19.1%) in line with falls in the cost of freight services.


 

Services imports by state

In 2023:

  • All states recorded a rise in services imports
  • New South Wales and Victoria remained the two largest states, with 46.9% and 23.6% of all services imports, respectively.
     

Services imports by country

In 2023:

  • United States of America remained Australia’s largest services imports partner, accounting for 15.4% of the total services imports. 
  • Total service imports from the United States of America rose $3,596m (26.1%)
Proportion of services imports (a) by country
2022$m%2023$m%
United States of America-13,78814.3United States of America-17,38415.4
Singapore-9,4039.8United Kingdom-9,7798.7
United Kingdom-8,8629.2New Zealand-7,9447.0
Germany-6,3736.6Singapore-7,7546.9
New Zealand-6,1816.4Asia, nes-7,1126.3
Asia, nes-5,2405.4Indonesia-5,9825.3
India-3,6693.8Germany-4,9284.4
Hong Kong-3,6193.8India-4,6714.1
Ireland-3,2643.4Japan-4,3393.8
Europe, nes-3,0183.1Ireland-3,5403.1
All other countries-32,86534.1All other countries-39,38734.9
Total-96,282100.0Total-112,820100.0

Where figures have been rounded, discrepancies may occur between sums of the component items and totals
(a) For sign conventions, see the Explanatory notes.

Detailed exports of services

Travel services

In 2023: 

  • All travel services export components rose
  • Travel services exports rose $34,571m (97.3%) to $70,104m. This is a record high for this series and represents 61.8% of total services exports.
  • Education-related travel was the largest component of travel exports at 68.2%.
 
Travel exports by state

Exports of travel services rose in 2023 across all states.

  • New South Wales rose $13,071m (104.0%)
  • Victoria rose $8,555m (81.5%)
  • Queensland rose $5,955m (104.3%) 
Travel exports by country

In 2023, the countries with the largest increases in exports of travel services were:

  • China rose $7,406m (121.0%)
  • India rose $4,329m (84.9%)
  • Nepal rose $1,595m (60.2%)

Travel services exports to China was 22.1% below the pre-pandemic levels of 2019, while India and Nepal were 31.4% and 40.1% above, respectively.

Proportion of travel exports by country
2022$m%2023$m%
China6,11917.2China13,52519.3
India5,09614.3India9,42513.4
Nepal2,6497.5Nepal4,2446.1
New Zealand1,4834.2New Zealand2,4783.5
United Kingdom1,3213.7Vietnam2,4083.4
All other countries18,86553.1All other countries38,02454.2
Total35,533100.0Total70,104100.0

Where figures have been rounded, discrepancies may occur between sums of the component items and totals.

Education-related travel services

In 2023, education-related travel services rose $21,229m (79.8%) to $47,820m, which exceeded the pre-pandemic levels of 2019 by 19.3%.

Education-related travel rose in all states in 2023, with the largest increases in:

  • New South Wales which rose $8,233m (84.7%)
  • Victoria which rose $6,469m (77.4%)

In 2023, China was the largest export partner for education-related travel services, accounting for 23.8%. 

The countries with the largest increases in exports of education-related travel services in 2023 were:

  • China which rose $5,425m (90.8%)
  • India which rose $3,697m (83.9%)
  • Nepal which rose $1,520m (58.9%)

Education-related travel exports to China was 9.1% below the pre-pandemic levels of 2019, while India and Nepal were 27.4% and 38.5% above, respectively.

Other personal travel services

In 2023, other personal related travel rose $11,139m (147.3%), which was 14.9% below pre-pandemic levels of 2019.

Other personal related travel rose in all states in 2023, with the largest increases in:

  • New South Wales which rose $4,032m (168.7%)
  • Queensland which rose $2,576m (151.7%)

In 2023, New Zealand was Australia’s largest export partner of other personal travel services, accounting for 10.5% of the total exports of other personal travel services.

The countries with the largest increases in exports of other personal travel services in 2023 were:

  • China which rose $1,658m (1,454.4%)
  • United States of America which rose $857m (122.4%)

China and United States remained 60.4% and 11.9% below pre-pandemic levels of 2019, respectively.

Detailed imports of services

Travel services

In 2023, imports of travel services rose $17,323m (73.8%) to $40,792m, accounting for 36.2% of total services imports.

 

Travel imports by state

Imports of travel services rose in 2023 for all states, with the largest increases in:

  • New South Wales which rose $5,237m (62.1%)
  • Victoria which rose $4,738m (70.2%)
Travel imports by country

In 2023, Indonesia was the largest import partner of Travel services which accounted for 14.0% of total travel imports, followed by New Zealand with 12.0%.

The countries with the largest increases of imports travel services in 2023 were:

  • Indonesia rose $2,946m (107.0%)
  • New Zealand rose $1,521m (45.3%)
  • United States of America rose $682m (35.2%)
Proportion of travel imports (a) by country
2022$m%2023$m%
New Zealand-3,36014.3Indonesia-5,70014.0
Indonesia-2,75411.7New Zealand-4,88112.0
United States of America-1,9408.3United States of America-2,6226.4
United Kingdom-1,7927.6United Kingdom-2,4526.0
Asia, nes-1,5746.7Japan-2,2225.4
All other countries-12,04951.3All other countries-22,91556.2
Total-23,469100.0Total-40,792100.0

Where figures have been rounded, discrepancies may occur between sums of the component items and totals
(a) For sign conventions, see the Explanatory notes.

Transport services

In 2023, imports of transport service fell $6,400m (19.1%), driven by freight services which fell $9,418m (35.3%), as global freight capacity constraints eased. Refer to the Spotlight article on recent trends in Freight costs, May 2023. This was offset by passenger services which rose $2,823m (46.4%).

Data downloads

Table 1. Merchandise exports, by selected countries, by six month aggregates, FOB value, $m

Table 2. Merchandise imports, by selected countries, by six month aggregates, customs value, $m

Table 3. International trade in services, credits, state by calendar year, $m

Table 4. International trade in services, debits, state by calendar year, $m

Table 5. International trade in services, credits, calendar year by country and service, $m

Table 6. International trade in services, debits, calendar year by country and service, $m

Table 7. International trade in services, credits, calendar year by country and travel service, $m

Table 8. International trade in services, debits, calendar year by country and travel service, $m

Table 9. International trade in services, credits, education related travel, by education sector, by type of expenditure by calendar year, $m

Changes and revisions in this issue

Reference period

Trade in services totals included in this publication are on a Balance of Payments basis and are aligned with the December 2023 issue of Balance of Payments and International Investment Position, Australia, released in March 2024.

Trade in goods imports and exports totals are on a merchandise trade basis and are aligned with the January 2024 monthly issue of International Trade in Goods, released in March 2024. Estimates for trade in goods for July 2023 to December 2023 are preliminary, all other periods represent final data.
 

Country name changes

All references to 'Gaza Strip and West Bank' and 'Turkey' have been updated to 'Occupied Palestinian Territories' and 'Türkiye' in the data downloads, respectively.

Additional information regarding country names is available in the Standard Australian Classification of Countries (SACC), 2016 publication.

Historical revisions

This publication includes historical revisions which are also included in the Australian System of National Accounts, 2022-23, released in October 2023, and the September 2023 issue of Balance of Payments and International Investment Position, released in December 2023.

Previous catalogue number

This release previously used catalogue number 5368.0.55.004.

Acknowledgement

The ABS would like to thank the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) who have provided funding and support for this publication.

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