4147.4.55.001 - Culture and Recreation News, Sep 2007  
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 26/09/2007   
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SPORTS AND PHYSICAL RECREATION: A STATISTICAL OVERVIEW, 2007 EDITION 1

The latest update of Sports and Physical Recreation: A Statistical Overview, Australia, 2007 Edition 1 (cat. no. 4156.0) was released on the ABS web site in August 2007.

In order to economise our efforts, NCCRS have decided not to continue to provide updates for data relating to "other leisure" which included data relating to gambling, amusements, theme parks and toys and games. Hence, from now on, the focus of the product will be on sports and physical recreation.

The changes since 2006 Edition 2 are:

  • Chapter 8 contains new data for building approvals of sports and physical recreation buildings, and new data for engineering construction of sports and physical recreation facilities.
  • Chapter 11 contains new data for international trade in sports and physical recreation products.
  • Chapters 12–14 have been deleted.
  • Data from chapter 13 which have relevance for sports and physical recreation have been transferred to chapter 10 – these data concern sports hospitality clubs, toy and sporting good manufacturers, and toy and sporting good wholesalers.

Some highlights of the new data are:
  • Building work worth $585.5m was approved for sports and physical recreation buildings during 2005–06. Of this total, 58.1% was for the construction of new buildings.
  • Engineering construction work worth $1,711.0m was done for recreation projects (including landscaping) during 2005–06. This followed work worth $1,656.6m in 2004–05 and $1,402.2m in 2003–04.
  • The total value of exports of selected sports and physical recreation goods in 2005–06 was $483.2m, 10.7% higher than for the previous year and the second successive increase.
  • New Zealand and the United States of America were the two biggest export markets for Australian sports and physical recreation goods in 2005–06, between them accounting for 48.1% of the total.
  • The total value of imports of selected sports and physical recreation goods rose by 15.8% to be $1,925.8m in 2005–06.
  • China and the United States of America were the two major sources of sports and physical recreation goods imported into Australia in 2005–06, between them accounting for 55.0% of the total.
  • Australia's largest trade deficit in selected sports and physical recreation goods in 2005-06 was $579.8m with China, while its largest surplus was $30.8m with New Zealand.