Trade Balance (Goods) — methodology

What this metric measures

The monthly balance on trade in goods: goods exports minus goods imports. A positive figure is a surplus, a negative figure a deficit.

Why it matters: The trade balance reflects Australia's competitiveness and the strength of demand for its exports, and feeds directly into national income.

Source & provenance

Publisher

ABS International Trade in Goods (Cat. 5368.0) - balance on goods, seasonally adjusted, Australia

Update frequency

monthly

Licence

CC BY 4.0

How the score is computed

The score is a 0–100 normalisation of the latest observation, compared to a baseline window. The traffic-light rating (RAG) reflects both the absolute level and the recent trend.

Direction

Higher is better

Trend window

24 months

Baseline

Last 10 years

{
  "red_max_pct_of_baseline": 95,
  "amber_min_pct_of_baseline": 95,
  "green_min_pct_of_baseline": 102
}