Media release from the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade
Australia's strong economic credentials have again been highlighted in a new report on trade and investment among APEC economies, with Australian exports outpacing imports within the Asia-Pacific region.
The APEC Region – Trade and Investment, 2011, produced by The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, shows Australia's exports to the region in 2010 grew by 17 per cent to $209 billion, while Australia's imports grew 6 per cent to $182 billion.
APEC accounted for 46 per cent of the world's total exports in 2010 and 56 per cent of world GDP, which shows the importance of the Asia-Pacific region in the global economy.
The value of the APEC region's exports to the world increased 26 per cent to US$8.7 trillion in 2010.
The report emphasised the importance of the Asia-Pacific region to Australia, showing APEC accounted for more than two-thirds of Australia's exports and imports.
The United States was the largest exporter in APEC in 2010, with exports to the world of US$1.8 trillion. It was closely followed by China with exports of US$1.7 trillion and Japan with exports of US$911 billion.
Much of APEC members' trade is with other APEC members. In 2010, 68 per cent of APEC members' merchandise exports and 65 per cent of imports were from within the region.
Australian investment in APEC member economies rose by 3 per cent to $662 billion in 2010, while investment by APEC member economies in Australia rose 8 per cent to $859 billion.
The APEC Region – Trade and Investment, 2011 is part of a series published by DFAT each year about Australia's international trade in goods and services.
The publication and analysis is available from the DFAT website.