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
September 2023
Released
5/12/2023

Key statistics

  • The current account balance, seasonally adjusted, fell $7,940m to a deficit of $158m.
  • The capital and financial account surplus was $3,124m, a turnaround of $20,261m on the June quarter 2023 deficit.
  • The net international investment liability position was $814,685m at 30 September 2023.

International accounts overview

Key figures ($m)
 Jun 23Sep 23
Balance on current account (a)7,782-158
Balance on goods and services (a)30,83722,862
Net primary income (a)-22,719-22,324
Capital and financial account-17,1373,124
International investment position (b)842,464814,685
  1. Seasonally adjusted estimates in current price terms.
  2. Levels at end of period.

The current account balance (seasonally adjusted, current price) for September quarter 2023 was a deficit of $158m. The current account balance decreased $7.9b from the revised June quarter 2023 surplus of $7.8b.

The decrease in the current account deficit reflected the fall in prices for Australia’s key export commodities, partly offset by a drop in the net primary income deficit.

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

The terms of trade decreased 2.6% to 92.5, down from 95.0 in June quarter 2023.  

The net primary income deficit narrowed to $22.3b, following the $22.7b deficit in June quarter 2023.

Australia's net international investment liability position was $814.7b at September quarter 2023, a decrease of $27.8b on the revised June quarter 2023 position of $842.5b.

 

Ratios of current account and international investment measures to quarterly GDP and GNI have been updated in Table 23.

  1. Seasonally adjusted estimates in current price terms.

Current Account

Balance on current account, current price, seasonally adjusted ($m)
 Jun 23Sep 23Jun 23 to Sep 23
Balance on current account7,782-158-7,940
Balance on goods and services30,83722,862-7,975
Net goods30,77524,134-6,641
Net Services62-1,272-1,334
Net primary income-22,719-22,324395
Net secondary income-336-695-359

Terms of trade

Australia's seasonally adjusted terms of trade on net goods and services for the September quarter 2023 fell 2.6% to 92.5, with a decrease of 1.4% in the implicit price deflator (IPD) for goods and services credits and an increase of 1.2% 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 exports-1.9-2.7-2.6-3.1
Services exports0.70.80.9na
Goods imports1.71.40.80.8
Services imports-0.9-0.6-3.1na
  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 $33,426m, a fall of $3,747m on the revised June quarter 2023 surplus of $37,173m.

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

Exports of goods (credits)

In seasonally adjusted terms at current prices, goods credits fell $4,267m (3.1%) to $134,622m, with volumes down 1.2% and prices down 1.9%.

 

Goods credits, price and volume change, seasonally adjusted - September quarter 2023
 Current prices ($m)Current prices (%)Chain volume measures (a)(b)(%)Implicit price deflators (a)(b)(%)
Exports of goods-4,267-3.1-1.2-1.9
 Rural goods2401.311.8-9.3
 Non-rural goods-5,503-4.9-4.0-0.9
 Net exports of goods under merchanting65114.0110.21.8
 Non-monetary gold(c)93112.412.20.2
  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)
 Jun 23 ($m)Sep 23 ($m)Jun 23 to Sep 23 ($m)Jun 23 to Sep 23 (%)
Rural goods17,91618,1562401.3
 Meat and meat preparations4,4404,6762365.3
 Cereal grains and cereal preparations5,5944,643-951-17.0
 Wool and sheepskins837863263.1
 Other rural(b)7,0457,97392813.2
  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)
 Jun 23 ($m)Sep 23 ($m)Jun 23 to Sep 23 ($m)Jun 23 to Sep 23 (%)
Non-rural goods113,434107,931-5,503-4.9
 Metal ores and minerals(b)43,58745,0331,4463.3
 Coal, coke and briquettes(b)26,89322,793-4,100-15.2
 Other mineral fuels(b)23,58020,424-3,156-13.4
 Metals (excl. non-monetary gold)3,7783,725-53-1.4
 Machinery3,4123,5911795.2
 Transport equipment1,1611,30714612.6
 Other manufactures6,8506,580-270-3.9
 Other non-rural (incl. sugar and beverages)(c)3,4903,6281384.0
 Goods procured in ports by carriers(d)68284916724.5
  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 rose $2,374m (2.2%) to $110,488m, with volumes up 0.5% and prices up 1.7%. 

Goods debits, price and volume change, seasonally adjusted - September quarter 2023
 Current prices ($m)Current prices (%)Chain volume measures (a)(b)(%)Implicit price deflators (a)(b)(%)
Total Goods Imports2,3742.20.51.7
 Consumption goods-72-0.2-0.50.3
 Capital goods9023.43.40.0
 Intermediate and other merchandise goods1,3072.9-0.93.8
 Non-monetary gold(c)23710.511.0-0.5
  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)
 Jun 23 ($m)Sep 23 ($m)Jun 23 to Sep 23 ($m)Jun 23 to Sep 23 (%)
Consumption goods-34,607-34,535-72-0.2
 Food and beverages, mainly for consumption-5,151-4,815-336-6.5
 Household electrical items-1,726-1,773472.7
 Non-industrial transport equipment-9,727-10,3336066.2
 Textiles, clothing and footwear-5,459-5,416-43-0.8
 Toys, books and leisure goods-1,974-1,955-19-1.0
 Consumption goods n.e.s.-10,570-10,242-328-3.1
  1. Seasonally adjusted estimates in current price terms.
  2. For sign conventions, see the Methodology page.

Capital goods

Capital goods(a)(b)
 Jun 23 ($m)Sep 23 ($m)Jun 23 to Sep 23 ($m)Jun 23 to Sep 23 (%)
Capital goods-26,703-27,6059023.4
 Machinery and industrial equipment-9,267-9,365981.1
 ADP equipment-3,109-3,2271183.8
 Telecommunications equipment-3,827-4,1853589.4
 Civil aircraft and confidentialised items(c)(d)-1,462-806-656-44.9
 Industrial transport equipment n.e.s.-4,875-5,74987417.9
 Capital goods n.e.s.(e)-4,164-4,2731092.6
  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)
 Jun 23 ($m)Sep 23 ($m)Jun 23 to Sep 23 ($m)Jun 23 to Sep 23 (%)
Intermediate and other merchandise goods-44,541-45,8481,3072.9
 Food and beverages, mainly for industry-655-632-23-3.5
 Primary industrial supplies n.e.s.(c)-677-7547711.4
 Fuels and lubricants(d)(e)-14,047-15,4791,43210.2
 Parts for transport equipment-4,407-4,449421.0
 Parts for ADP equipment-186-19152.7
 Other parts for capital goods-6,136-6,4232874.7
 Organic and inorganic chemicals-1,306-1,358524.0
 Paper and paperboard-698-696-2-0.3
 Textile yarn and fabrics-407-41361.5
 Iron and steel-1,192-1,218262.2
 Plastics-1,376-1,331-45-3.3
 Processed industrial supplies n.e.s.-12,832-12,187-645-5.0
 Other merchandise goods(f)(g)-280-222-58-20.7
 Goods procured in ports by carriers(d)-344-49515143.9
  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 March quarter 2010 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.

Services

Services exports, price and volume change, seasonally adjusted - September quarter 2023
 Current prices ($m)Current prices (%)Chain volume measures (a)(b)(%)Implicit price deflators (a)(b)(%)
Exports of services7452.71.90.7
 Manufacturing services on physical inputs owned by others----
 Maintenance and repair services n.i.e.-2-25.0-27.02.7
 Transport191.02.1-1.1
 Travel8495.04.40.6
 Other services-120-1.3-2.71.4

- 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 - September quarter 2023
 Current prices ($m)Current prices (%)Chain volume measures (a)(b)(%)Implicit price deflators (a)(b)(%)
Imports of services2,0797.58.4-0.9
 Manufacturing services on physical inputs owned by others----
 Maintenance and repair services n.i.e.-1-0.5-3.22.7
 Transport-245-3.510.1-12.3
 Travel2,26923.819.53.7
 Other services560.5-1.92.5

- 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 $395m to $22,324m in the September quarter 2023. 

  1.  Seasonally adjusted estimates in current price terms.

Primary income credits

Primary income credits, in seasonally adjusted, current price terms rose $1,565m (6.7%). The key components contributing to the increase were:

  • Portfolio investment assets - interest; up $787m (21.5%)
  • Direct investment assets - income on equity and investment fund shares; up $325m (4.0%)
  • Portfolio investment assets - income on equity and investment fund shares; up $213m (2.5%)

Primary income debits

Primary income debits, in seasonally adjusted, current price terms rose $1,171m (2.5%). The key components contributing to the increase were:

  • Portfolio investment liabilities - interest; up $1,973m (17.4%)
  • Compensation of employees; up $299m (9.7%)

Partly offset by:

  • Portfolio investment liabilities - income on equity and investment fund shares; down $1,080m (10.9%)

Secondary income

In current price seasonally adjusted terms, the net secondary income deficit rose $359m to $695m.

Secondary income credits fell $105m (3.2%) and Secondary income debits rose $254m (7.0%) in the September quarter 2023.

Capital and Financial Account

The capital and financial account recorded a surplus of $3.1b during the September 2023 quarter, driven by the financial account surplus of $3.4b.

The financial account recorded a surplus due to a $6.8b net inflow of equity and a $3.4b net outflow of debt.

Capital and financial account ($m)
 Dec 22Mar 23Jun 23Sep 23Jun 23 to
Sep 23
Capital account-194-202-281-283-2
 Acquisitions/disposals of non-produced non-financial assets-14-14-63-549
  Acquisitions/disposals of non-produced non-financial assets credits-----
  Acquisitions/disposals of non-produced non-financial assets debits-14-14-63-549
 Capital transfers-180-188-218-229-11
  Capital transfers credits-----
  Capital transfers debits-180-188-218-229-11
Financial account-8,901-9,579-16,8563,40720,263
 Direct investment-20,9621,8931,2591,524265
  Direct investment assets-17,363-10,8653,294-10,785-14,079
  Direct investment liabilities-3,59912,758-2,03612,30814,344
 Portfolio investment17,514707-20,425-5,66014,765
  Portfolio investment assets-14,788-24,404-4,774-27,390-22,616
  Portfolio investment liabilities32,30225,111-15,65121,73037,381
 Financial derivatives-9,961-5,478-4,763-3,3001,463
  Financial derivatives assets96,25589,08465,08863,919-1,169
  Financial derivatives liabilities-106,217-94,562-69,851-67,2192,632
 Other investment5,463-3,9046,96310,2203,257
  Other investment assets14,3707,11324,373-236-24,609
  Other investment liabilities-8,906-11,017-17,41010,45627,866
 Reserve assets-956-2,798110624514
Net errors and omissions-4,9752963,3254,3961,071

- nil or rounded to zero (including null cells)

International Investment Position

Australia's international investment liability position was $814.7b at 30 September 2023, a decrease of $27.8b on the revised 30 June 2023 figure of $842.5b. Australia's net foreign equity asset position increased $25.0b to $351.9b and Australia's net foreign debt liability position decreased $2.8b to $1,166.6b.

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 Position
 Mar‑23943,027-9,57931,020-23,473-12,708928,286
 Jun‑23928,286-16,856-63,230-1,503-4,233842,464
 Sep‑23842,4643,40710,244-31,848-9,582814,685
Net Foreign Equity
 Mar‑23-240,6564,3396,742-27,669-15,874-273,118
 Jun‑23-273,118-248-41,566-4,931-7,021-326,884
 Sep‑23-326,8846,77015,782-31,135-16,407-351,875
Net Foreign Debt
 Mar‑231,183,683-13,91924,2784,1963,1671,201,404
 Jun‑231,201,404-16,608-21,6643.4282,7881,169,349
 Sep‑231,169,349-3,363-5,538-7136,8251,166,560

Data downloads

Time series spreadsheets

Data files

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

Iron ore (in original terms)

  • Adjustments have been applied to iron ore lumps in the June quarter 2023 (-$15m), and September quarter 2023 (-$20m).
  • Adjustments have been applied to iron ore fines in the March quarter 2023 (-$5m) and June quarter 2023 (-$30m), nil adjustments for the September 2023 quarter. 
  • When actual final transaction prices become available estimates are replaced with these data.

 

Goods on a balance of payments basis

Coal (in original terms)

  • Adjustments have been applied to coal, coke and briquettes in the balance of payments series for the September quarter 2023 (+$1,165m). All previous adjustments have been removed. 

Metal ores and minerals (in original terms) 

  • Adjustments have been applied to metal ores and minerals in the balance of payments series for the September quarter 2023 (-$415m). All previous adjustments have been removed.

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, administrative data and historical revisions released in Australian System of National Accounts, 2022-23 has resulted in revisions to the current account series back to the June quarter 2006. In original current price terms, these revisions have decreased the current account surplus for June quarter 2023 by $174m.

      The International Investment Position (IIP) has been revised back to the September quarter 2022. These revisions have increased Australia's net IIP liability by $20,223m to a net liability position of $842,464m at 30 June 2023. The financial account deficit has been revised down $37m to $16,856m at 30 June 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 September quarter 2023 issue of Australian National Accounts: National Income, Expenditure and Product to be released on 6 December 2023.

      Economic conditions

      CountryMSCI quarter-on-quarter percentage change (a)(%)AUD exchange rate quarter-on-quarter percentage change (b)(%)
      Australia-1.75na
      United States of America-3.44-2.59
      United Kingdom1.300.65
      Europe-6.130.11
      China-3.03-1.97
      Japan0.810.43
      Singapore-1.30-1.91
      India3.74-1.36
      New Zealand-8.26-1.10

      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.

      Post release changes

      06/12/2023 Note: Updates to selected international accounts ratios: Table 23

      Ratios of current account and international investment measures to quarterly GDP and GNI are normally presented in Table 23.

      As advised on 5 December 2023, Table 23 in the 'Data downloads' was initially supressed and is now available in conjunction with the release of the September quarter 2023 issue of Australian National Accounts: National Income, Expenditure and Product.

      Table 24 has been updated.

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