International Trade Price Indexes in Australia

Australia's International Trade Price Indexes measure the change in the prices of the goods the country exports and imports, in local currency, isolating price movements from volume effects. They are published by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).

Chained indexes (SITC Rev.3, 'All Groups') compiled by the ABS from a sample of export and import prices collected from exporting and importing firms. They are released quarterly, with changes against the previous quarter and the same quarter a year earlier.

The export index mainly reflects commodities (iron ore, coal, gold, gas), whose swings affect Australia's trade balance and terms of trade and, through them, national income and the Australian dollar. The import index passes through inflationary pressure via imported consumer and capital goods.

Highly sensitive to commodities and to the Australian dollar, which produces volatility unrelated to domestic demand. Its quarterly frequency limits trend reading and it is subject to revisions.