Australia Economy, GDP, Budget, Industry and Agriculture

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Australia Economy


View the information below regarding the economy of Australia. The summary and statistics contains gdp, industry, agriculture and more for Australia. If you need other information please visit the Australia Country Page.

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    Economy Statistics
    GDP: (2002) $476.9 billion.
    Inflation rate: (2002) 3.0% p.a.
    Trade: Exports ($79.9 billion, 2002)--coal, gold, wool, meat, iron ore, wheat, alumina, aluminum, machinery and transport equipment. Major markets--Japan, U.S. ($8.8 billion), New Zealand, South Korea.
    Imports ($81.0 billion, 2002)--machinery and transport equipment, computers, crude oil and petroleum products, telecommunications equipment. Major suppliers--U.S. ($14.4 billion), Japan, China, Germany, U.K., China, New Zealand, Taiwan, and Singapore.

    ECONOMY:
    Australia's developed market economy is dominated by its services sector (70% of GDP), yet it is the agricultural and mining sectors (7% of GDP combined) that account for the bulk (57%) of Australia's goods and services exports. Australia's comparative advantage in primary products is a reflection of the natural wealth of the Australian continent and its small domestic market; 19.8 million people occupy a continent the size of the contiguous United States. The relative size of the manufacturing sector has been declining for several decades, and now accounts for around 12% of GDP.

    Australia commenced a basic reorientation of its economy in the 1980s and has transformed itself from an inward looking, import-substitution country to an internationally competitive, export-oriented one. Key reforms include unilaterally reducing high tariffs and other protective barriers; floating the Australian dollar exchange rate; deregulating the financial services sector, including liberalizing access for foreign bank branches; making efforts to restructure the highly centralized system of industrial relations and labor bargaining; better integrating the state economies into a national federal system; improving and standardizing the national infrastructure; privatizing many government-owned services and public utilities; and fundamentally reforming the taxation system, including introducing a broad-based Goods and Services Tax (GST).

    The ultimate goal is for Australia to become a competitive producer and exporter, not just of traditional farm and mineral commodities, but also of a diversified mix of high value-added manufactured products, services, and technologies. Australia was one of the OECD's fastest-growing economies throughout the 1990s, a performance that owed much to the economic reform program. Following a transient slowdown in late 2000, Australia is again one of the fastest growing of the developed economies. Despite the negative impact of global economic weakness and a severe Australian drought, growth should reach at least 2.5% in 2003. The latest predictions suggest that GDP growth will exceed 3.0 % over the next 2 years.

    Seeking to deepen already close political and economic links, the United States and Australia began negotiations toward a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) in March 2003. Negotiators are working toward concluding an agreement by the end of 2003, with ratification expected in 2004. The aim is to conclude a comprehensive, "gold standard" FTA that will not only further liberalize bilateral trade but also set a high-quality precedent for future bilateral or multilateral trade agreements.

    source: http://www.state.gov

  • Australia Government
  • Australia People
  • Australia Geography
  • Australia History