International Investment Position, Australia: Supplementary Statistics

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Supplementary statistics on Australia's international investment position by counterpart countries

Reference period
2020
Released
5/05/2021

Key statistics

  • Australia’s net IIP liability position was $947.2b at 31 December 2020, an increase from last year's figure of $934.4b.
  • Foreign investment in Australia rose $97.1b to $3,990.9b.
  • Australian investment abroad rose $84.3b to $3,043.7b.

Level of investment

The net liability position of $947.2b for 2020 is attributable to:

  • $3,990.9b in foreign investment in Australia, an increase of $97.1b (2%) from the previous year.
  • $3,043.7b in Australian investment abroad, an increase of $84.3b (3%) from the previous year.

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Level of foreign investment in Australia

The following graph illustrates the levels of foreign investment from the top 7 countries and country groups for the past 5 years (2016-2020).

Please note, the countries/country groups included in this graph and all subsequent graphs are ordered by the magnitude of their 2020 figures.

Level of Australian investment abroad

    The top 7 investment destinations for the past 5 years (2016-2020) are displayed below:

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    Financial account transactions

    The financial account at 31 December 2020 recorded a deficit of $42.6b, an increase of $34.4b on the deficit of $8.2b recorded for the previous year.

    Foreign investment in Australia - transactions

    Foreign investment in Australia recorded an outflow of $154.4b for the year ended 31 December 2020, a turnaround of $159.4b from the previous year’s inflow of $5.0b.

    Direct investment contributed an inflow of $29.3b while Portfolio investment saw an inflow of $44.0b.

    Displayed below are the 7 countries/country groups recording the greatest transactions in Direct investment and Portfolio investment along with the total of all countries:

    Australian investment abroad - transactions

    Australian investment abroad recorded an inflow of $111.9b for the year ended 31 December 2020, a turnaround of $125.0b from the previous year’s outflow of $13.1b.

    Direct investment contributed to the 2020 figure with a $13.3b outflow, while Portfolio investment saw a $75.1b outflow.

    Displayed below are the 7 countries/country groups recording the greatest transactions in Direct investment and Portfolio investment along with the total of all countries:

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    Primary income

    Income debits

    Income debits totalled $83.9b during 2020, a decrease of $33.4b (28%) from the previous year.

    Displayed below is a breakdown of the top 7 countries/country groups to which income was accrued for the past 5 years (2016-2020):

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    Income credits

    Income credits totalled $64.2b during 2020, a decrease of $4.7b (7%) from the previous year.

    Displayed below are the top 7 countries/country groups from which income was accrued for the past 5 years (2016-2020):

    Data downloads

    Data files

    Excel files

    The data downloads are in .xlsx format instead of .xls format, as in previous years' publications.

    Changes in this issue

    Change to EU figures

    The United Kingdom withdrew from the European Union on 31 January 2020. The EU figures in the data downloads for 2016-2019 represent EU 28 (including UK), while the 2020 figure represents EU 27 (excluding UK).

    Change to OECD figures

    Colombia became a member of OECD on 28 April 2020. The OECD figures in the data downloads for 2016-2019 represent OECD 36 (excluding Colombia), while the 2020 figure represents OECD 37 (including Colombia).

    Revisions

    Revisions include incorporation of new estimates from the latest survey and administrative data which has resulted in revisions to International Investment data back to calendar year 2016.

    Rounding

    Discrepancies may occur between totals in this publication and the same aggregates from other sources, and between sums of component items and totals due to rounding.

    Inquiries

    For further information about these and related statistics, contact the National Information and Referral Service on 1300 135 070 or International Accounts in Canberra at international.accounts@abs.gov.au.

    Previous catalogue number

    This release previously used catalogue number 5352.0

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