Economy Overview
Australia is an open market with minimal restrictions on imports of goods and services. The process of opening up has increased productivity, stimulated growth, and made the economy more flexible and dynamic. Australia plays an active role in the WTO, APEC, the G20, and other trade forums. Australia’s free trade agreement (FTA) with China entered into force in 2015, adding to existing FTAs with the Republic of Korea, Japan, Chile, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore, Thailand, and the US, and a regional FTA with ASEAN and New Zealand. Australia continues to negotiate bilateral agreements with Indonesia, as well as larger agreements with its Pacific neighbors and the Gulf Cooperation Council countries, and an Asia-wide Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership that includes the 10 ASEAN countries and China, Japan, Korea, New Zealand, and India. Australia is a significant exporter of natural resources, energy, and food. Australia's abundant and diverse natural resources attract high levels of foreign investment and include extensive reserves of coal, iron, copper, gold, natural gas, uranium, and renewable energy sources. A series of major investments, such as the US$40 billion Gorgon Liquid Natural Gas Project, will significantly expand the resources sector. For nearly two decades up till 2017, Australia had benefited from a dramatic surge in its terms of trade. As export prices increased faster than import prices, the economy experienced continuous growth, low unemployment, contained inflation, very low public debt, and a strong and stable financial system. Australia entered 2018 facing a range of growth constraints, principally driven by the sharp fall in global prices of key export commodities. Demand for resources and energy from Asia and especially China is growing at a slower pace and sharp drops in export prices have impacted growth.
Agriculture Products
sugar cane, wheat, barley, milk, rapeseed, beef, cotton, grapes, poultry, potatoes
Industries
mining, industrial and transportation equipment, food processing, chemicals, steel
Industrial Production Growth Rate
1.4% (2017 est.)
Labor Force
12.568 million (2020 est.)
Labor Force by Occupation
Agriculture: 3.6%
Industry: 21.1%
Services: 75.3% (2009 est.)
Unemployment Rate
0: 5.16% (2019 est.)
1: 5.29% (2018 est.)
Youth Unemployment Rate
Total: 11.3%
Male: 12.6%
Female: 9.8% (2021 est.)
Population Below Poverty Line
Household Income or Consumption by Percentage Share
Lowest 10%: 2%
Highest 10%: 25.4% (1994)
Distribution of Family Income Gini Index
0: 34.4 (2014 est.)
1: 35.2 (1994)
Budget
Revenues: 490 billion (2017 est.)
Expenditures: 496.9 billion (2017 est.)
Budget Surplus
-0.5% (of GDP) (2017 est.)
Public Debt
0: 40.8% of GDP (2017 est.)
1: 40.6% of GDP (2016 est.)
Commercial Bank Prime Lending Rate
Market Value of Publicly Traded Shares
Reserves of Foreign Exchange and Gold
0: $66.58 billion (31 December 2017 est.)
1: $55.07 billion (31 December 2016 est.)
Debt External
0: $3,115,913,000,000 (2019 est.)
1: $2,837,818,000,000 (2018 est.)
Stock of Direct Foreign Investment at Home
Stock of Direct Foreign Investment Abroad
Exchange Rates
0: Australian dollars (AUD) per US dollar -
1: 1.34048 (2020 est.)
2: 1.46402 (2019 est.)
3: 1.38552 (2018 est.)
4: 1.3291 (2014 est.)
5: 1.1094 (2013 est.)
