Welcome to the ABS website

Our website has been designed to make it easier for you to find the data you need. We are committed to the continual improvement of your experience. This page is regularly updated based on your questions and feedback.

• prominent key statistics
• clear and easy pathways to statistics
• language is easier to understand
• interactive graphs and tables
• improved accessibility
• green tick to indicate latest release

• Printing a page - To print or save a page you can right click in most browsers or access print options through your browser's settings. We are working on improving the print functionality
• Downloading a table - To download and save any table you can click on the "download" button on the top right of a table and download as a CSV or XLSX

• Downloading all data for a release is being progressively implemented - A "download all" button is available in the download section and should be in place on most releases
• There are few inconsistencies in formatting on pages. We are working to have this resolved as soon as possible

For the best website experience and improved online security, we recommend using the following desktop browsers.

The most current and previous two versions of these browsers are currently supported.

• Google Chrome
• Microsoft Edge
• Mozilla Firefox
• Apple Safari

We have updated our web address structures to make them more predictable and user friendly.

You may need to update your bookmarks, macros and systems. You can see examples of the new web address structures below.

The ABS is transitioning to Excel files in .XLSX format. This means that spreadsheets in new statistical releases will be progressively upgraded from .XLS files to .XLSX files.

While this change will improve usability, it may also require changes to automated macros or similar programs that users may have in place that call on the current file extension format.

This change will take effect for releases from 3 December 2021. Previously released spreadsheets will not change.

Data APIs enable fast access to ABS statistics by using machine to machine 'API calls'. These calls return statistics in a machine friendly format so that you can integrate data into your own systems as they are released.

We deployed the next release of our ABS Data APIs on 27 September 2021. 

The release includes a variety of fixes and improvements to the API. Including;

• A new WCAG 2.0 compliant user interface called the Data Explorer - https://www.abs.gov.au/about/data-services/explore/data-explorer
• Faster release of data in APIs - data will be available in ABS data APIs soon after it is published to the ABS website
• Full compliance with the SDMX 2.1 information model
• More format options - data is available in XML, JSON and CSV and metadata available in XML and JSON

Data Explorer and ABS Data API (https://www.abs.gov.au/about/data-services/data-explorer) has been launched. This replaces ABS.Stat (Beta) which is now scheduled to be decommissioned. Access to ABS.Stat Beta will be withdrawn on 10 December 2021.

The inclusion of the Data Explorer makes this release of the ABS Data APIs a suitable replacement of ABS.Stat beta (https://stat.data.abs.gov.au).  If you currently use the ABS.Stat (Beta) system, please start transitioning to the new Data Explorer (https://explore.data.abs.gov.au/). ABS Data API documentation has detailed information and worked examples.  If you need additional assistance transitioning to the new APIs, please reach out to us at api.data@abs.gov.au. 

Please note the following system limitations:

• In the short term the release of new data through ABS Data APIs and Data Explorer will still be delayed after the data is available through the ABS Website.
• A few datasets from the old ABS.Stat beta system have not yet been released in the ABS Data APIs.  These datasets are Labour Force, International Trade in Goods and Services and International Investment Position.  We are working to make this data available as soon as possible.

To register your details to receive notifications on the ABS.Stat upgrade, please get in contact with us at api.data@abs.gov.au. For more information, to raise questions, provide feedback and share your knowledge, please visit our Community of Practice.  

We have updated our guidance on citing to help with referencing data. This is a suggested guide, indicating key elements to include when referencing ABS sources. 

Catalogue numbers are still available but no longer appear in release titles. You can still search for releases using catalogue numbers. Our monthly release calendar shows the catalogue numbers for upcoming releases. ABS catalogue numbers are also included at the bottom of every topic page. 

We are working to improve the way content on pages prints from your browser. Currently when you print a page content can extend across pages which can cause graphs and tables not to display in full. To ensure all graph and table content is included when you print you can adjust the scale of the page.

We suggest changing the scale of a page from 100% to 80%, this will reduce the size of the content allowing the graphs and tables to print correctly. You do this by clicking print from your browser settings typically found in the top right corner of the page and changing the scale. Depending on your browser the scale may be adjusted within the advanced settings. 

We encourage you to provide your feedback as we continue to improve our website into the future. You can provide feedback using the feedback buttons. These are located on the right-hand side of each page and within the page footer. Contact us if you have any questions about the changes we are making.