Balance of Payments and International Investment Position, Australia

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Balance of payments statistics on current, capital and financial transactions and the international investment position statement

Reference period
December 2023
Released
5/03/2024
  • Next Release 4/06/2024
    Balance of Payments and International Investment Position, Australia, March 2024
  • Next Release 3/09/2024
    Balance of Payments and International Investment Position, Australia, June 2024
  • Next Release 3/12/2024
    Balance of Payments and International Investment Position, Australia, September 2024
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Key statistics

  • The current account balance, seasonally adjusted, rose $10,524m to a surplus of $11,800m.
  • The capital and financial account deficit was $9,730m, a turnaround of $13,214m on the September quarter 2023 surplus. 
  • The net international investment liability position was $836,635m at 31 December 2023.

International accounts overview

Key figures ($m)
 Sep 23Dec 23
Balance on current account (a)1,27611,800
Balance on goods and services (a)24,17232,363
Net primary income (a)-22,073-20,171
Capital and financial account3,484-9,730
International investment position (b)811,171836,635
  1. Seasonally adjusted estimates in current price terms.
  2. Levels at end of period.

The current account balance (seasonally adjusted, current price) for December quarter 2023 was a surplus of $11.8b. The current account balance increased $10.5b from the revised September quarter 2023 surplus of $1.3b.

The increase in the current account surplus reflected a rise in the trade surplus and a decline in the net primary income deficit. 

The balance on goods and services in seasonally adjusted chain volume terms is expected to contribute 0.6 percentage points to the December quarter 2023 GDP quarterly movement. 

The terms of trade increased 2.2% to 95.1, up from 93.0 in September quarter 2023. 

The net primary income deficit narrowed to $20.2b, following the $22.1b deficit in September quarter 2023.

Australia's net international investment liability position was $836.6b at 31 December 2023, an increase of $25.5b on the revised September quarter 2023 position of $811.2b.

 

  1. Seasonally adjusted estimates in current price terms.

Current Account

Balance on current account, current price, seasonally adjusted ($m)
 Sep 23Dec 23Sep 23 to Dec 23
Balance on current account1,27611,80010,524
Balance on goods and services24,17232,3638,191
Net goods24,07430,2106,136
Net Services982,1532,055
Net primary income-22,073-20,1711,902
Net secondary income-823-391432

Terms of trade

Australia's seasonally adjusted terms of trade on net goods and services for the December quarter 2023 rose 2.2% to 95.1, with an increase of 3.1% in the implicit price deflator (IPD) for goods and services credits and an increase of 0.8% in the IPD for goods and services debits.

 

  1. Seasonally adjusted, reference year 2021-22=100.

Relationship between IPD, EPI and IPI

Differences between the IPD and International Trade Price Indexes can arise due to a number of methodological factors, including differences in pricing points, timing, coverage and weights.

Price comparison (QoQ % change)
 Implicit price deflators (a)(b)Implicit price deflators (a)(b)Chain Laspeyres Indexes (a)(b)International Trade Price Indexes (c)
 Seasonally AdjustedOriginalOriginalOriginal
Goods exports3.54.85.35.6
Services exports0.80.80.6na
Goods imports1.11.111.1
Services imports-0.2-1.3-1.3na
  1. Reference year 2021-22=100.
  2. Movements in indexes are calculated from unrounded data.
  3. Source: International Trade Price Indexes, Australia.
  1. Seasonally adjusted, reference year 2021-22=100.
  2. Source: International Trade Price Indexes, Australia.

Balance on goods and services

In seasonally adjusted chain volume terms, the balance on goods and services was a surplus of $37,809m, a rise of $3,931m on the revised September quarter 2023 surplus of $33,878m.

  1. Seasonally adjusted, reference year 2021-22=100.

Exports of goods (credits)

In seasonally adjusted terms at current prices, goods credits rose $4,170m (3.1%) to $138,678m, with volumes down 0.4% and prices up 3.5%.

 

Goods credits, price and volume change, seasonally adjusted - December quarter 2023
 Current prices ($m)Current prices (%)Chain volume measures (a)(b)(%)Implicit price deflators (a)(b)(%)
Exports of goods4,1703.1-0.43.5
 Rural goods-523-2.9-2.3-0.6
 Non-rural goods5,2354.80.54.3
 Net exports of goods under merchanting-21-31.3-36.68.3
 Non-monetary gold(c)-521-6.2-8.82.9
  1. Reference year 2021-22=100.
  2. Movements in indexes are calculated from unrounded data.
  3. This component is not seasonally adjusted.

Rural goods

Rural goods (a)
 Sep 23 ($m)Dec 23 ($m)Sep 23 to Dec 23 ($m)Sep 23 to Dec 23 (%)
Rural goods17,97017,447-523-2.9
 Meat and meat preparations4,6034,577-26-0.6
 Cereal grains and cereal preparations4,6184,420-198-4.3
 Wool and sheepskins847763-84-9.9
 Other rural(b)7,9027,686-216-2.7
  1. Seasonally adjusted estimates in current price terms.
  2. For all time periods, estimates for sugar, sugar preparations and honey are included in Other non-rural.

Non-rural goods

Non-rural goods (a)
 Sep 23 ($m)Dec 23 ($m)Sep 23 to Dec 23 ($m)Sep 23 to Dec 23 (%)
Non-rural goods108,058113,2935,2354.8
 Metal ores and minerals(b)45,26149,7524,4919.9
 Coal, coke and briquettes(b)23,00524,2161,2115.3
 Other mineral fuels(b)20,31420,026-288-1.4
 Metals (excl. non-monetary gold)3,7233,9031804.8
 Machinery3,5713,589180.5
 Transport equipment1,3001,216-84-6.5
 Other manufactures6,4986,274-224-3.4
 Other non-rural (incl. sugar and beverages)(c)3,5063,495-11-0.3
 Goods procured in ports by carriers(d)881822-59-6.7
  1. Seasonally adjusted estimates current price terms.
  2. Separate seasonally adjusted factors for current price and chain volume measures are applied.
  3. For all time periods, estimates for sugar, sugar preparations and honey are included in Other non-rural.
  4. In using these seasonally adjusted series, care should be exercised because of the difficulties associated with reliably estimating the seasonal pattern.
  1. Seasonally adjusted estimates in current price terms.

Imports of goods (debits)

In seasonally adjusted terms at current prices, goods debits fell $1,966m (1.8%) to $108,468m, with volumes down 2.8% and prices up 1.1%. 

Goods debits, price and volume change, seasonally adjusted - December quarter 2023
 Current prices ($m)Current prices (%)Chain volume measures (a)(b)(%)Implicit price deflators (a)(b)(%)
Total Goods Imports-1,966-1.8-2.81.1
 Consumption goods-1,176-3.4-5.42.1
 Capital goods-969-3.5-3.4-0.1
 Intermediate and other merchandise goods4260.9-0.11.0
 Non-monetary gold(c)-248-9.9-12.63.1
  1. Reference year 2021-22=100.
  2. Movements in indexes are calculated from unrounded data.
  3. This component is not seasonally adjusted.

Consumption goods

Consumption goods (a)(b)
 Sep 23 ($m)Dec 23 ($m)Sep 23 to Dec 23 ($m)Sep 23 to Dec 23 (%)
Consumption goods-34,420-33,244-1,176-3.4
 Food and beverages, mainly for consumption-4,819-4,744-75-1.6
 Household electrical items-1,747-1,664-83-4.8
 Non-industrial transport equipment-10,353-9,890-463-4.5
 Textiles, clothing and footwear-5,371-5,259-112-2.1
 Toys, books and leisure goods-1,926-1,810-116-6.0
 Consumption goods n.e.s.-10,204-9,878-326-3.2
  1. Seasonally adjusted estimates in current price terms.
  2. For sign conventions, see the Methodology page.

Capital goods

Capital goods(a)(b)
 Sep 23 ($m)Dec 23 ($m)Sep 23 to Dec 23 ($m)Sep 23 to Dec 23 (%)
Capital goods-27,533-26,564-969-3.5
 Machinery and industrial equipment-9,304-8,869-435-4.7
 ADP equipment-3,184-2,906-278-8.7
 Telecommunications equipment-4,182-3,810-372-8.9
 Civil aircraft and confidentialised items(c)(d)-834-93910512.6
 Industrial transport equipment n.e.s.-5,773-5,9351622.8
 Capital goods n.e.s.(e)-4,257-4,105-152-3.6
  1. Seasonally adjusted estimates in current price terms.
  2. For sign conventions, see the Methodology page.
  3. From September quarter 2008, commodities subject to a 'no commodity details' or 'no value details' restriction are included in Civil aircraft and confidentialised items. For earlier periods, commodities subject to a 'no commodity details' or 'no value details' restriction are included in Other merchandise goods.
  4. This component is not seasonally adjusted.
  5. In using these seasonally adjusted series, care should be exercised because of the difficulties associated with reliably estimating the seasonal pattern.

Intermediate and other merchandise goods

Intermediate and other merchandise goods(a)(b)
 Sep 23 ($m)Dec 23 ($m)Sep 23 to Dec 23 ($m)Sep 23 to Dec 23 (%)
Intermediate and other merchandise goods-45,982-46,4084260.9
 Food and beverages, mainly for industry-632-624-8-1.3
 Primary industrial supplies n.e.s.(c)-754-570-184-24.4
 Fuels and lubricants(d)(e)-15,572-15,8793072.0
 Parts for transport equipment-4,534-5,05852411.6
 Parts for ADP equipment-194-211178.8
 Other parts for capital goods-6,390-6,153-237-3.7
 Organic and inorganic chemicals-1,356-1,258-98-7.2
 Paper and paperboard-691-661-30-4.3
 Textile yarn and fabrics-412-386-26-6.3
 Iron and steel-1,236-1,38114511.7
 Plastics-1,333-1,416836.2
 Processed industrial supplies n.e.s.-12,156-11,896-260-2.1
 Other merchandise goods(f)(g)-222-33311150.0
 Goods procured in ports by carriers(h)-499-5838416.8
  1. Seasonally adjusted estimates current price terms.
  2. For sign conventions, see the Methodology page.
  3. From September quarter 2010, this component is not seasonally adjusted.
  4. Prior to December quarter 2011 this component is not seasonally adjusted.
  5. Separate seasonally adjusted factors for current price and chain volume measures are applied.
  6. From September quarter 2008, commodities subject to a 'no commodity details' or 'no value details' restriction are included in Civil aircraft and confidentialised items. For earlier periods, commodities subject to a 'no commodity details' or 'no value details' restriction are included in Other merchandise goods.
  7. From September quarter 1981, this component is not seasonally adjusted.
  8. Prior to March quarter 2010 this component is not seasonally adjusted.

Services

Services exports, price and volume change, seasonally adjusted - December quarter 2023
 Current prices ($m)Current prices (%)Chain volume measures (a)(b)(%)Implicit price deflators (a)(b)(%)
Exports of services3871.30.50.8
 Manufacturing services on physical inputs owned by others----
 Maintenance and repair services n.i.e.228.626.21.9
 Transport1468.05.12.7
 Travel3541.81.20.7
 Other services-115-1.3-1.90.7

- nil or rounded to zero (including null cells)

  1. Reference year 2021-22=100.
  2. Movements in indexes are calculated from unrounded data.
Services imports, price and volume change, seasonally adjusted - December quarter 2023
 Current prices ($m)Current prices (%)Chain volume measures (a)(b)(%)Implicit price deflators (a)(b)(%)
Imports of services-1,668-5.5-5.3-0.2
 Manufacturing services on physical inputs owned by others----
 Maintenance and repair services n.i.e.7841.540.40.7
 Transport-428-6.3-3.2-3.2
 Travel-925-7.8-9.01.2
 Other services-393-3.5-3.80.4

- nil or rounded to zero (including null cells)

  1. Reference year 2021-22=100.
  2. Movements in indexes are calculated from unrounded data.

Income

Net primary income deficit narrowed by $1,902m to $20,171m in the December quarter 2023. 

  1.  Seasonally adjusted estimates in current price terms.

Primary income credits

Primary income credits, in seasonally adjusted, current price terms fell $107m (0.4%). The key components contributing to the decline were:

  • Portfolio investment assets - income on equity and investment fund shares; down $249m (2.9%)
  • Direct investment assets - income on equity and investment fund shares; down $215m (2.5%)

Partly offset by:

  • Portfolio investment assets - interest; up $398m (9.0%)

Primary income debits

Primary income debits, in seasonally adjusted, current price terms fell $2,009m (4.3%). The key components contributing to the decline were:

  • Direct investment liabilities - income on equity and investment fund shares; down $2,459m (14.3%)
  • Other investment liabilities; down $326m (9.7%)

Partly offset by:

  • Compensation of employees; up $267m (7.8%)

Secondary income

In current price seasonally adjusted terms, the net secondary income deficit fell $432m to $391m.

Secondary income credits rose $7m (0.2%) and Secondary income debits fell $424m (10.5%) in the December quarter 2023.

Capital and Financial Account

The capital and financial account recorded a deficit of $9.7b during the December 2023 quarter, driven by the financial account deficit of $9.6b.

The financial account recorded a deficit due to a $13.3b net outflow of equity and a $3.7b net inflow of debt.

Capital and financial account ($m)
 Mar 23Jun 23Sep 23Dec 23Sep 23 to
Dec 23
Capital account-202-281-171-15021
 Acquisitions/disposals of non-produced non-financial assets-14-63-52-2032
  Acquisitions/disposals of non-produced non-financial assets credits-----
  Acquisitions/disposals of non-produced non-financial assets debits-14-63-52-2032
 Capital transfers-188-218-119-130-11
  Capital transfers credits-----
  Capital transfers debits-188-218-119-130-11
Financial account-11,154-16,1383,655-9,580-13,235
 Direct investment1,891730-16127,72127,882
  Direct investment assets-10,8403,298-11,2651,55312,818
  Direct investment liabilities12,731-2,56811,10526,16815,063
 Portfolio investment117-20,315-6,5765747,150
  Portfolio investment assets-24,993-4,449-27,993-50,751-22,758
  Portfolio investment liabilities25,109-15,86621,41751,32629,909
 Financial derivatives-5,472-4,7361,111-35,891-37,002
  Financial derivatives assets89,08465,11368,460151,98883,528
  Financial derivatives liabilities-94,556-69,849-67,349-187,879-120,530
 Other investment-4,8928,0748,658-2,225-10,883
  Other investment assets6,12925,342-1,66312,45014,113
  Other investment liabilities-11,021-17,26810,321-14,675-24,996
 Reserve assets-2,798110624242-382
Net errors and omissions1,9712,4963,782-6,270-10,052

- nil or rounded to zero (including null cells)

International Investment Position

Australia's international investment liability position was $836.6b at 31 December 2023, an increase of $25.5b on the revised 30 September 2023 figure of $811.2b. Australia's net foreign equity asset position increased $13.3b to $369.6b and Australia's net foreign debt liability position increased $38.8b to $1,206.3b.

International investment position, by net foreign equity and net foreign debt ($m)
  Position at beginning of periodTransactionsPrice changesExchange rate changesOther adjustmentsPosition at end of period
Net International Investment PositionJun‑23927,059-16,138-62,908-1,411-4,608841,993
Sep‑23841,9933,6558,981-32,498-10,960811,171
Dec‑23811,171-9,580-19,57261,676-7,060836,635
Net Foreign EquityJun‑23-275,435-989-41,246-4,930-7,533-330,132
Sep‑23-330,1326,45016,951-31,250-18,346-356,327
Dec‑23-356,327-13,294-47,26058,451-11,195-369,625
Net Foreign DebtJun‑231,202,494-15,149-21,6633,5192,9251,172,125
Sep‑231,172,125-2,795-7,970-1,2487,3861,167,498
Dec‑231,167,4983,71427,6893,2254,1351,206,260

Data downloads

Time series spreadsheets

Data files

Seasonal adjustment for leap years

The extra leap year day in 2024 is unlikely to impact seasonally adjusted statistics released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) for the month of February 2024 and the March quarter 2024.  This is because the effect of an additional leap year day is analysed and accounted for as part of the seasonal adjustment process, which includes the impact of trading days. The impact of the extra leap year day will be evident in the original (non-seasonally adjusted) series. For more information please refer to this note.

Supplementary Information

Value adjustments

Goods credits data presented in this publication are based on information provided by exporters to the Department of Home Affairs (Home Affairs). At the time of initial reporting to Home Affairs, final transaction prices are not known for some commodities. Final quantity and/or unit price information is updated progressively as exporters revise the information provided to Home Affairs.

For commodities such as iron ore and coal, newly negotiated contract prices are not fully reflected in data first reported to Home Affairs. When additional information on quantity and/or unit price for these commodities is available, the ABS may adjust the data to reflect actual transaction values.

Iron ore adjustments are applied on an international merchandise trade basis at the Australian Harmonized Export Commodity Classification (AHECC) level. Coal, coke and briquettes are adjusted on a balance of payments basis in original current price terms. When final transaction prices become available adjusted estimates are replaced with these data.

In most instances, transfer of ownership occurs when goods cross the customs frontier. In certain circumstances the ownership of large value capital expenditure items occurs prior to the items crossing the customs frontier. The ABS adjusts the relevant balance of payments series to record the timing when transfer of ownership takes place.

Exports 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 these data. 

Goods on a balance of payments basis

Coal, coke and briquettes adjustment, BoP Basis
 Sep 23 ($m)Dec 23 ($m)
Coal, coke and briquettes+330+1,370

Capital expenditure (in original terms)

  • The balance of payments goods debits component capital goods n.e.s. includes an estimate of expenditure on capital goods that have changed ownership but have not yet crossed the customs frontier.

Revisions

Table 28 summarises revisions, in original current price terms, since the last issue of this publication.

Incorporation of the latest survey and administrative data has resulted in revisions to the balance of payments series back to the September quarter 2022. In original current price terms, these revisions have increased the current account surplus for September quarter 2023 by $253m. 

The International Investment Position (IIP) has been revised back to the September quarter 2022. These revisions have decreased Australia's net IIP liability by $3,515m to a net liability position of $811,171m at 30 September 2023. The financial account surplus has been revised up $248m to $3,655m at 30 September 2023.

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

Data in this issue aligns with the data in the December quarter 2023 issue of Australian National Accounts: National Income, Expenditure and Product to be released on 6 March 2024.

Economic conditions

CountryMSCI quarter-on-quarter percentage change (a)(%)AUD exchange rate quarter-on-quarter percentage change (b)(%)
Australia8.27na
United States of America11.485.92
United Kingdom1.611.55
Europe12.121.23
China-4.993.00
Japan2.060.46
Singapore0.672.27
India11.876.00
New Zealand8.600.05

OECD quarterly growth rates for selected countries can be found through the following link: https://stats.oecd.org/index.aspx?queryid=350.

  1. MSCI data based on local currency except for Europe which is based on $USD. MSCI data from https://www.msci.com/.
  2. Exchange rates data from RBA: https://www.rba.gov.au/statistics/historical-data.html#exchange-rates.

COVID-19 in this publication

Suspension of trend estimates

Suspension of trend estimates

The trend series attempts to measure underlying behaviour in international trade activity. In the short term, this measurement will be significantly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent changes to regular patterns in international trade resulting from it. If the trend estimates in this publication were to be calculated without fully accounting for this unusual event, they would provide a misleading view of underlying international trade activity.

It may be some time before the underlying trend in international trade activity can be accurately estimated. The trend series has therefore been suspended for national and state services credits and debits from March 2019 and will be reinstated when more certainty emerges.

The trend series for national and state goods credits and debits and for the primary and secondary income series have been reviewed and reinstated.

Previous catalogue number

This release previously used catalogue number 5302.0.

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