Australia's exports at record $215 bn

Commenting on the latest figures, Australia's Minister for Trade, Mr. Warren Truss, said that exports of manufactures, resources and services reached an all-time high. Only farm-based exports were adversely affected by Australia's prolonged drought.

The trade deficit on goods and services fell by $2.5 billion to $12 billion in 2006-07, well below its peak of $22.6 billion in 2004-05.

The overall improvement came through exports rising by 10 percent over the financial year. Imports rose by eight percent.

"This is a very positive result for the year just gone, with further strong growth expected by Treasury and exporters themselves in the present year," Mr. Truss said.

"Australia's largest export region of North Asia was again a highlight, with merchandise exports up by 11 percent in 2006-07.  Leading the way was China, with exports rising by 26 percent.

"Even stronger were merchandise exports to India, which were up by 37 percent. This took India to fourth on Australia's list of merchandise export markets - now ahead of New Zealand, the USA and UK and behind Japan, China and Korea," Mr. Truss said.

Overall, Australian Exports in June 2007 fell by three percent compared to May, taking the trade deficit for the month to $1.75 billion. This negative result was partly affected by the Australian dollar being at its highest average monthly value against the US dollar for more than 18 years, and severe weather conditions along Australia's east coast which hampered exports of some commodities, notably coal.

- The Nation