Trade Balance in Australia

Australia's Trade Balance is the difference between the value of the country's goods exports and imports over a month. Published by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), it gauges external trade performance and is heavily driven by commodity shipments.

The ABS subtracts the value of goods imports from goods exports as recorded in external trade statistics, in millions of Australian dollars and seasonally adjusted. A positive balance is a surplus, a negative one a deficit.

The trade balance feeds into GDP and signals global appetite for Australia's commodities (iron ore, coal, gas). A wider-than-expected surplus tends to support the Australian dollar, while a deterioration weighs on it and on growth expectations.

Highly sensitive to commodity prices and volumes, which makes it volatile month to month; figures are revised with each release and the series excludes services trade.