2021.02.0400:30:00UTC+00Australia Trade Surplus A$6.785 Billion In December

Australia posted a seasonally adjusted merchandise trade surplus of A$6.785 billion in December, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said on Thursday.

That exceeded expectations for a A$6.0 billion surplus following the downwardly revised A$5.014 billion surplus in November (originally A$5.022 billion).

Exports were up 3.0 percent on month to A$37.268 billion, in line with forecasts following the downwardly revised 2.8 percent increase in the previous month (originally 3.0 percent).

Imports slipped 2.0 percent on month to A$30.483 billion versus expectations for a loss of 4.0 percent following the downwardly revised 9.3 percent increase a month earlier (originally 10.0 percent).

For the fourth quarter of 2020, the trade surplus was A$17.443 billion, an increase of A$3.794 billion on the September quarter 2020 surplus of A$13.649 billion.

For all of 2020, the balance on goods and services was a surplus of A$72.7 billion, an increase of A$5.2 billion on the surplus of A$67.5 billion in 2019, resulting from a A$63.9 billion (15 percent) decrease in goods and services debits and a A$58.7 billion (12 percent) decrease in goods and services credits.