Australia

The Commonwealth of Australia was created in 1901. Australia used its natural resources to not only grow its agricultural and manufacturing industries, but also to help the British in both World Wars. Partly because of the economic reforms pursued in the 1980s, Australia had one of OECD’s fastest growing economies in the 1990s. The country worries about pollution, mostly the depletion of the ozone layer, and controlling the coastal areas, in particular the Great Barrier Reef. Lately, in an effort to increase its contacts in Asia, Australia signed an agreement with Japan, which will lead the way for more collaboration in dealing with terrorism, and for combined disaster relief operations.

Main Airports

Adelaide Airport (ADL), Melbourne Airport (MEL), Sydney Airport (SYD) (Kingsford Smith)

U.S. Embassy

Moonah Place, Yarralumla, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory 2600
tel. (02) 6-214-5600

Statistics

GDP: purchasing power parity:

$640.1 billion (2005 est.)

GDP - real growth rate:

2.5% (2005 est.)

GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity:

31,900 (2005 est.)

Inflation rate (consumer prices):

2.7% (2005 est.)

Labor force:

10.42 million (2005 est.)

Exports:

$103 billion (2005 est.)

Exports - partners:

Japan 20.3%, China 11.5%, South Korea 7.9%, US 6.7%, NZ 6.5%, India 5% (2005)

Imports:

$119.6 billion (2005 est.)

Imports - partners:

US 13.9%, China 13.7%, Japan 11%, Singapore 5.6%, Germany 5.6% (2005)

Population:

20,264,082 (July 2006 est.)

Population growth rate:

0.85% (2006 est.)

Population Below Poverty Line:

NA%

Major Industries:

mining, industrial and transportation equipment, food processing, chemicals, steel

Employing Workers: 9*

Registering Property: 27*

Enforcing Contracts: 7*

Closing a Business: 12*

*2006 World Bank rank out of 175 countries

Starting a Business

The table below shows the number of steps and the amount of time needed to start a business, on average

Indicator	Australia	Region
Procedures (number)	2
Time (days)	2

Australia Risk Assessment

Country Rating

Rating: A1

The political and economic situation is very good. A quality business environment has a positive influence on corporate payment behaviour. Corporate default probability is very low on average.

Risk Assessment

Economic growth was strong in 2007, driven by buoyant domestic consumption. Household disposable income increased and companies pursued their investment programmes, mostly in the mining sector. This sector's good sales performance abroad offset the weaker sales performance of farm products. The sharp import rebound contributed to widening the current account deficit.

Domestic demand will continue to underpin growth in 2008. The job market will remain buoyant with unemployment levelling off, which will put upward pressure not only on wages but also inflation, exacerbated moreover by the prices of energy and food products. The inflationary pressures will prompt the central bank to maintain its tight monetary policy. Rising interest rates in conjunction with more difficult conditions of access to credit will thus squeeze property investment by households already deeply in debt (161 per cent of disposable income). But they will continue to benefit from income tax reductions that will mitigate the pressure on their purchasing power. Strong world demand for iron ore driven by emerging Asian countries will allow sector companies to continue investing despite the tighter credit conditions. They will remain dynamic on exports meanwhile notwithstanding the Australian dollar appreciation. The drought still ravaging the eastern part of the country will moreover continue to limit farm product sales abroad. Imports will rise sharply again, further widening the current account deficit. Spending announced by the new government, especially on health, education and port infrastructure, should have little effect on the fiscal surplus with the economy continuing to generate ample tax revenues.

Although companies will continue to make good profits, that overall performance masks the disparity between the mining and manufacturing sectors with rising labour costs, higher interest rates, and the Australian dollar appreciation squeezing manufacturer margins. Companies connected with the residential construction, retail, and wholesale sectors will bear particularly close watching. Leisure sectors could suffer from a tourism slowdown. The buoyant economic conditions have at this juncture resulted in a decline in bankruptcies, a trend consistent with the good Coface payment incident index for Australia below the world average.

• Agriculture
• Apparel
• Arts & Crafts
• Automobile
• Bags, Cases & Boxes
• Chemicals
• Computer Hardware & Software
• Construction & Real Estate
• Consumer Electronics
• Electrical & Electronics
• Energy & Environment
• Food & Beverage
• Furniture & Furnishing
• Health & Medicine
• Home Supplies
• Industrial Supplies
• Lights & Lighting
• Machinery
• Mineral & Materials
• Office Supplies
• Security & Protection
• Service
• Sports & Entertainment
• Telecommunications
• Textile
• Toys
• Transportation