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ECONOMY
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Economy
- Overview:
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Australia
has a prosperous Western-style capitalist economy, with a per
capita GDP at the level of the four dominant West European economies.
Rich in natural resources, Australia is a major exporter of agricultural
products, minerals, metals, and fossil fuels. Commodities account
for 57% of the value of total exports, so that a downturn in world
commodity prices can have a big impact on the economy. The government
is pushing for increased exports of manufactured goods, but competition
in international markets continues to be severe. Australia has
suffered from the low growth and high unemployment characterizing
the OECD countries in the early 1990s, but the economy has expanded
at reasonably steady rates in recent years. Canberra's emphasis
on reforms is a key factor behind the economy's resilience to
the regional crisis and its stronger than expected growth rate
that reached 4.5% last year. After a slow start in 1998, exports
rebounded in the second half of the year because of a sharp currency
depreciation and a redirection of sales to Europe, North America,
and Latin America. |
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GDP:
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purchasing
power parity?$393.9 billion (1998 est.) |
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GDP
- Real Growth Rate:
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4.5%
(1998 est.) |
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GDP
- Per Capita:
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purchasing power parity?$21,200 (1998 est.) |
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GDP
- Composition by Sector:
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agriculture:
4%
industry: 31%
services: 65% (1997 est.) |
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Population
Below Poverty Level:
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NA |
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Household
Income or Consumption by Percentage Share:
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lowest
10%: 2.5%
highest 10%: 24.8% (1989) |
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Inflation
Rate :
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1%
(1998) |
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Labor
Force :
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9.2
million (December 1997) |
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Labor
Force - by Occupation:
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services
73%, industry 22%, agriculture 5% (1997 est.) |
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Unemployment
Rate:
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8.1% (1998) |
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Budget:
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revenues:
$90.73 billion
expenditures: $89.04 billion, including capital expenditures
of $NA (FY98/99 est.) |
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Industries:
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mining, industrial and transportation equipment, food processing,
chemicals, steel |
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Industrial
Production Growth Rate:
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1.2%
(1995) |
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Electricity
- Production:
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166.683
billion kWh (1996) |
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Electricity
- Production by Source:
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fossil
fuel: 91.14%
hydro: 8.84%
nuclear: 0%
other: 0.02% (1996) |
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Electricity
- Consumption:
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166.683
billion kWh (1996) |
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Electricity
- Exports:
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0
kWh (1996) |
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Electricity
- Imports:
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0
kWh (1996) |
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Agriculture
- Products:
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wheat,
barley, sugarcane, fruits; cattle, sheep, poultry |
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Exports:
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$56
billion (f.o.b., 1998 est.) |
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Exports
- Commodities:
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coal,
gold, meat, wool, alumina, iron ore, wheat, machinery and transport
equipment |
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Exports
- Partners:
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Japan
20%, ASEAN 16%, EU 10%, South Korea 9%, US 9%, NZ 8%, Taiwan,
Hong Kong, China (1997) |
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Imports:
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$61 billion (f.o.b., 1998 est.) |
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Imports
-Commodities:
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machinery and transport equipment, computers and office machines,
telecommunication equipment and parts; crude oil and petroleum
products |
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Imports
- Partners:
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EU 25%, US 23%, Japan 13%, China, NZ (1997) |
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Debt
- External:
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$156
billion (June 1997) |
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Economic
Aid -Donor:
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ODA, $1.43 billion (FY97/98) |
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Currency:
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1 Australian dollar ($A) = 100 cents |
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Exchange
Rates :
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Australian
dollars ($A) per US$1?1.56 (February 1999), 1.5888 (1998), 1.3439
(1997), 1.2773 (1996), 1.3486 (1995), 1.3668 (1994) |
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Fiscal
Year :
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1 July?30 June |
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