AUSTRALIA - ASEAN - Building Economic Cooperation
Australia's trade with ASEAN
ASEAN is a region of 558 million people with a combined gross domestic product of US$883 billion
- ASEAN is a major market for Australian exporters, purchasing A$18.8 billion worth of Australian merchandise exports and A$6.2 billion worth of services exports in 2006
- Australia is an important destination for tourists and students from ASEAN - more than half of Australia’s services export earnings in ASEAN come from these two sources. In 2006, there were 71,191 student enrolments from ASEAN, and about 630,000 travelers from ASEAN visited Australia.
Australia's merchandise trade relationship with ASEAN
Major Australian exports, 2006 (A$m):
- Crude petroleum 2,915
- Aluminium 1,589
- Non-monetary gold 1,727
- Copper 1,467
- Milk and cream 697
Major Australian imports, 2006 (A$m):
- Crude petroleum 9,589
- Refined petroleum 1,944
- Non-monetary gold 5,945
- Computers 1,670
- Motor vehicles for transporting goods 1,450
Trade in Goods
ASEAN is an important market for Australian goods exports. It accounted for 11.5 per cent of Australia’s total merchandise exports in 2006, placing it above many of our other key export markets, including the United States (6.2 per cent), Republic of Korea (7.5 per cent) and New Zealand (5.5 per cent).
In the ten years to 2006, Australia’s two-way merchandise trade with ASEAN grew by an annual average of 9.5 per cent. This is greater than the average rate of growth per year in Australia’s total two-way merchandise trade over the period (7.3 per cent) and greater than the growth in Australia’s trade with most of its leading trading partners, including the United States (2.7 per cent) and Japan (5.9 per cent). Of our key trading partners, ASEAN was eclipsed only by China and India, whose trade with Australia grew by 19.7 per cent and 17.6 per cent respectively per annum over the decade.
Trade in Services
ASEAN is also an important market for Australian service providers. In 2006, ASEAN purchased 14 per cent of Australia’s total service exports. By comparison, the United States was the destination for 13 per cent of our services exports, China 8 per cent and Japan 7 per cent.
Australia’s investment relations with ASEAN
The investment partnership between Australia and the region remains relatively weak. Only two ASEAN countries have significant foreign direct investment (FDI) stocks in Australia: Malaysia with stocks of A$4 billion in 2006 and Singapore (A$5.1 billion). Australia’s total FDI stock in ASEAN in 2006 was A$9.9 billion (3.4 per cent of Australia’s total FDI overseas), around 44 per cent of which was invested in Singapore. This compares with stocks of A$41.1 billion in New Zealand and A$116.3 billion in the United States.
Related Publication: ASEAN: Building an Economic Community