Australia's January trade surplus unexpectedly narrows as exports decline

2026-03-05 02:05:47

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Investing.com - Data released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics on Thursday showed that Australia’s trade surplus unexpectedly narrowed in January, due to weaker exports and a rebound in imports, putting pressure on the external balance.

Seasonally adjusted trade balance fell from AUD 3.37 billion in December to AUD 2.63 billion in January, below the expected AUD 3.78 billion.

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Exports decreased by 0.9% month-over-month, reversing the previous 0.9% growth, driven by a 5.2% decline in rural goods and a 1.7% decline in non-rural goods.

Exports of iron ore and coal weakened that month, with hard coking coal shipments dropping significantly, while liquefied natural gas exports saw a slight increase.

Imports rose by 0.8% in January, after a 1.8% decline in December. The rebound was mainly due to a 46.8% surge in non-monetary gold. Capital goods imports increased by 5.1%, while imports of consumer goods and intermediate products declined.

These data indicate that, despite ongoing volatility in commodity prices and mixed global demand conditions, the net exports contribution to the economy has weakened at the start of the year.

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