Australia's top exports in 2022 were coal ($142 billion), iron ore ($124 billion), natural gas ($90 billion) and education-related services ($26 billion).
Refined petroleum was Australia's largest import in 2020, at $53 billion (10% of all imports).
China, Japan and South Korea are Australia's top export destinations. China is Australia's largest two-way trading partner, accounting for 24.9% of all imports and exports.
Australia's trade surplus fell to $6.79 billion in September 2023, down from a surplus of $10.16 billion in August 2023.
Australia ranks 93rd in the Atlas of Economic Complexity, countries such as Uganda, Malawi and Kazakhstan have a higher ranking. Over the past decade, Australia's complexity has dropped by 12 places.
Australia might not have a diverse range of exports but it's still one of the largest economies in the world. Based on GDP figures, Australia is the 12th largest economy in the world with a GDP of $1.675 trillion.
Australia's top 10 exports 2022 ($ million)
Exports
2020
2021
2022
% share 2022
1. Coal
43,368
63,505
142,345
21.20%
2. Iron ore and concentrates
116,915
154,656
124,213
18.50%
3. Natural gas
36,209
49,811
90,343
13.50%
4. Education-related travel services
31,688
22,023
26,590
4.00%
5. Gold
25,492
23,281
23,513
3.50%
6. Wheat
3,910
9,436
14,457
2.20%
7. Crude petroleum
6,239
10,113
14,424
2.20%
8. Crude minerals
993
1,823
12,227
1.80%
9. Beef
9,596
9,062
10,271
1.50%
10. Aluminum ores and concentrates
8,301
8,901
9,865
1.50%
Australia's top 10 imports ($ million)
Imports
2020
2021
2022
% share 2022
1. Refined petroleum
15,857
25,694
53,199
10.00%
2. Passenger motor vehicles
18,690
23,355
27,698
5.20%
3. Freight transport services
11,309
16,956
26,770
5.00%
4. Personal travel (excluding education-related services)
China remains Australia's largest export partner but trade fell 2% vs the previous year. Exports to Japan and South Korea grew 84% and 42%, respectively year-on-year. Most of the demand was driven by strong commodity prices.
The top 5 import partners for Australia in 2022 were:
China: $114.24 billion (up 22%).
USA: $56.66 billion (up 29%).
Singapore: $28.89 billion (up 65%).
South Korea: $27.92 billion (up 111%).
Japan: $27.43 billion (up 131%).
These 5 countries make up 50% of Australia's total international trade in imports.
In 2020–21:
The number of Australian business importers increased by 6%, to 124,507.
56% of business importers in Australia traded at least once with China.
Australia's largest two-way trading partners
Country
Amount
% share
1. China
$299.4 billion
24.90%
2. Japan
$147.3 billion
12.30%
3. United States
$87.3 billion
7.30%
4. South Korea
$81.9 billion
6.80%
5. Singapore
$52.9 billion
4.40%
6. India
$48.5 billion
4.00%
7. Taiwan
$42.7 billion
3.60%
8. Malaysia
$33.4 billion
2.80%
9. New Zealand
$31.4 billion
2.60%
10. Germany
$29.2 billion
2.40%
International trade balance
Australia's trade surplus fell to $6.79 billion in September 2023, down from a surplus of $10.16 billion in August. This is the lowest surplus level since March 2021.
ABS data shows that exports fell $658 million (1.4%) in September 2023, driven by non-monetary gold.
Non-monetary gold exports fell by 39.2% from August to September 2023, but exports of general merchandise increased by 2.1%.
Imports rose $2.7 billion (7.5%) from August to September 2023.
Non-monetary gold imports increased by 39.7% from August to September 2023, while capital goods imports increased by 23.3%.
In the 2022 calendar year, Australia's balance on goods and services was a surplus of $155 billion.
Total goods and services exports increased by 29% to $668.94 billion in 2022. Total goods and services imports increased by 33% to $513.21 billion in 2022.
Economic Complexity Index
The Atlas of Economic Complexity from the Growth Lab at Harvard University ranks economies around the world based on their level of complexity. Each jurisdiction is given an Economic Complexity Index (ECI).
Australia is ranked 93rd with an ECI of -0.55 and has fallen 12 places over the 10 years to 2021. It's also significantly down from its ranking of 60th (ECI: 0.04) in 2000. New Zealand is ranked 52nd with an ECI of 0.20.
According to the index, Australia's worsening complexity is due to "a lack of diversification of exports".
Australia has the 9th richest economy per capita out of the 133 included in the study, with a GDP per capita of $60,444. Australia's GDP per capita growth has averaged 0.7% over the 5 years to 2021.
Australia's lack of economic complexity means slow economic growth is predicted. Harvard Growth Lab forecasts growth in Australia of 2.0% annually in the 10 years to 2031, ranking Australia in the bottom half of countries.
Tim Falk is a writer for Finder, writing across a diverse range of topics. Over the course of his 15-year writing career, Tim has reported on everything from travel and personal finance to pets and TV soap operas. When he’s not staring at his computer, you can usually find him exploring the great outdoors. See full bio
Wondering how property prices in Australia compare with the rest of the world? We estimated the average cost of buying a city-centre apartment in 106 countries to find out.
How likely would you be to recommend Finder to a friend or colleague?
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Very UnlikelyExtremely Likely
Required
Thank you for your feedback.
Our goal is to create the best possible product, and your thoughts, ideas and suggestions play a major role in helping us identify opportunities to improve.
Important information about this website
Finder makes money from featured partners, but editorial opinions are our own.
Finder is one of Australia's leading comparison websites. We are committed to our readers and stand by our editorial principles.
We try to take an open and transparent approach and provide a broad-based comparison service. However, you should be aware that while we are an independently owned service, our comparison service does not include all providers or all products available in the market.
Some product issuers may provide products or offer services through multiple brands, associated companies or different labeling arrangements. This can make it difficult for consumers to compare alternatives or identify the companies behind the products. However, we aim to provide information to enable consumers to understand these issues.
We make money by featuring products on our site. Compensation received from the providers featured on our site can influence which products we write about as well as where and how products appear on our page, but the order or placement of these products does not influence our assessment or opinions of them, nor is it an endorsement or recommendation for them.
Products marked as 'Top Pick', 'Promoted' or 'Advertisement' are prominently displayed either as a result of a commercial advertising arrangement or to highlight a particular product, provider or feature. Finder may receive remuneration from the Provider if you click on the related link, purchase or enquire about the product. Finder's decision to show a 'promoted' product is neither a recommendation that the product is appropriate for you nor an indication that the product is the best in its category. We encourage you to use the tools and information we provide to compare your options.
Where our site links to particular products or displays 'Go to site' buttons, we may receive a commission, referral fee or payment when you click on those buttons or apply for a product.
When products are grouped in a table or list, the order in which they are initially sorted may be influenced by a range of factors including price, fees and discounts; commercial partnerships; product features; and brand popularity. We provide tools so you can sort and filter these lists to highlight features that matter to you.
Please read our website terms of use and privacy policy for more information about our services and our approach to privacy.
We update our data regularly, but information can change between updates. Confirm details with the provider you're interested in before making a decision.
