Economy of Australia
Economy of Australia
Currency
Australian Dollar ($A or A$, AU$ or
$AU, AUD)
Fiscal year
1 July - 30 June
Trade
organisations
APEC, WTO and OECD
Statistics
GDP
$824.9 billion (2008) [1]
GDP growth
1.9% (seasonally adjusted)- Q1
2008/09 [2]
GDP per capita $36,226 (2007)
GDP by sector
agriculture: 3.8% industry: 26.2%
services: 70% (2005 est.)
Inflation (CPI)
2.5% (Mar 2009/2008) [3]
Population
below poverty
line
NA%
Gini index
0.305 (2000) [4]
Labour force
11.42 million (April 2009)[5]
Labour force
by occupation
agriculture (3.6%), mining (1.1%),
industry (20.2%), services (75.1%)
(May 2005 est.)
Unemployment 5.4% (April 2009) [6]
Main
industries
mining, industrial and
transportation equipment, food
processing, chemicals, steel
External
Exports
A$215.8 billion (2006-2007) [7]
Export goods
coal, gold, meat, wool, alumina,
iron ore, wheat, machinery and
transport equipment
Main export
partners
Japan 20.3%, China 11.5%, South
Korea 7.9%, US 6.7%, New
Zealand 6.5%, India 5% (2005)
Imports
A$227.8 billion (2006-2007) [8]
Import goods
machinery and transport
equipment, computers and office
machines, telecommunication
lasers
Main import
partners
US 13.9%, China 13.7%, Japan
11%, Singapore 5.6%, Germany
5.6% (2005)
Public finances
Public Debt
federal public net debt = 0
(2007-8)
Revenues
A$319.46 billion (2008-2009)
Expenses
A$292.47 billion (2008-2009)
Economic aid
donor: ODA, $2.5 billion (2005/06
Budget) [9]
Main data source: CIA World Fact Book
All values, unless otherwise stated, are in US dollars
Throughout this article, the unqualified
term "dollar" and the $ symbol refer to
the Australian dollar. However, figures
in the sidebar are in US dollars.
The economy of Australia is a prosperous,
free market economy dominated by its ser-
vices sector (68% of GDP), although the agri-
cultural and mining sectors (10% of GDP
combined)[1] account for 57% of the nation’s
exports.[2]
The Australian dollar is the currency of
the Commonwealth of Australia, including
Christmas Island, Cocos (Keeling) Islands,
an