Australia Economy - 2004

Economy - overview:
Australia has a prosperous Western-style capitalist economy, with a per capita GDP on par with the four dominant West European economies. Rising output in the domestic economy has been offsetting the global slump, and business and consumer confidence remains robust. Australia's emphasis on reforms is another key factor behind the economy's strength. The impact of drought, weak foreign demand, and strong import demand pushed the trade deficit up to $14 billion in 2003 from $5 billion in 2002.

GDP:
purchasing power parity - $570.3 billion (2003 est.)

GDP - real growth rate:
2.8% (2003 est.)

GDP - per capita:
purchasing power parity - $28,900 (2003 est.)

GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: 3%
industry: 25%
services: 72% (2003 est.)

Population below poverty line:
NA% (2001 est.)

Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: 2%
highest 10%: 25.4% (1994)

Distribution of family income - Gini index:
35.2 (1994)

Inflation rate (consumer prices):
2.7% (2003 est.)

Labor force:
9.2 million (37256)

Labor force - by occupation:
services 73%, industry 22%, agriculture 5% (1997 est.)

Unemployment rate:
6.1% (2003)

Budget:
revenues: $86.8 billion
expenditures: $84.1 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (FY00/01 est.)

Industries:
mining, industrial and transportation equipment, food processing, chemicals, steel

Industrial production growth rate:
1.1% (2003 est.)

Electricity - production:
198.2 billion kWh (2001)

Electricity - production by source:
fossil fuel: 90.8%
hydro: 8.3%
other: 0.9% (2001)
nuclear: 0%

Electricity - consumption:
184.4 billion kWh (2001)

Electricity - exports:
0 kWh (2001)

Electricity - imports:
0 kWh (2001)

Oil - production:
731,000 bbl/day (2001 est.)

Oil - consumption:
796,500 bbl/day (2001 est.)

Oil - exports:
523,400 bbl/day (2001)

Oil - imports:
530,800 bbl/day (2001)

Oil - proved reserves:
3.664 billion bbl (1 January 2002)

Natural gas - production:
33.08 billion cu m (2001 est.)

Natural gas - consumption:
23.33 billion cu m (2001 est.)

Natural gas - exports:
9.744 billion cu m (2001 est.)

Natural gas - imports:
0 cu m (2001 est.)

Natural gas - proved reserves:
2.407 trillion cu m (1 January 2002)

Agriculture - products:
wheat, barley, sugarcane, fruits; cattle, sheep, poultry

Exports:
$68.67 billion (2003 est.)

Exports - commodities:
coal, gold, meat, wool, alumina, iron ore, wheat, machinery and transport equipment

Exports - partners:
Japan 18.5%, US 9.6%, South Korea 8.3%, China 6.9%, New Zealand 6.5%, UK 4.7%, Singapore 4.1%, Taiwan 4% (2002)

Imports:
$82.91 billion (2003 est.)

Imports - commodities:
machinery and transport equipment, computers and office machines, telecommunication equipment and parts; crude oil and petroleum products

Imports - partners:
US 18.3%, Japan 12.3%, China 10.1%, Germany 5.7%, UK 4.6% (2002)

Debt - external:
$193 billion (2003 est.)

Economic aid - donor:
ODA, $894 million (FY99/00)

Currency:
Australian dollar (AUD)

Currency code:
AUD

Exchange rates:
Australian dollars per US dollar - 1.54 (2003), 1.84 (2002), 1.93 (2001), 1.72 (2000), 1.55 (1999)