Australia’s trade in goods and services has fallen into deficit for the first time since the December quarter 2017.
This comes off the back of falling exports of mining commodities and a lift in the value of imports of data centre equipment and fuel.
Overall, the seasonally adjusted current account balance fell to a deficit of $27.1 billion in March quarter 2026, figures released this week show.
ABS head of international statistics Jonathon Khoo said the current account balance had fallen for the fourth quarter in a row.
“As a share of nominal GDP, the current account deficit is expected to be the largest since June 2016,” he said.
Exports of goods and services fell 1.2 percent in the March quarter, led by a 1.2 percent fall in goods.
“Iron ore prices fell strongly, while both iron ore and coal exports were disrupted by cyclones Koji and Mitchell,” Mr Khoo said.
“Crude oil and refined petroleum product prices rose significantly as the closure of the Strait of Hormuz lifted oil prices and tightened global supply.”
Exports of services fell 1.3 percent, led by education-related travel services due to a smaller intake of international students.
Non-monetary gold exports and imports both rose, up 23.7 percent and 12.9 percent respectively.
Gold prices continued to reach historic highs, with the tenth straight quarterly rise across both exports and imports.
“Foreign owned mining companies in Australia saw higher profits this quarter due to price rises in gold and profits paid back to foreign owners and shareholders,” Mr Khoo said.
“This was partly offset by a $0.8 billion rise in primary income credits (inflows) to $28.7 billion, due to higher earnings by overseas subsidiaries of Australian companies who benefited from increased global commodity prices.”
The full report is available here.
