- ANZ economists
Australia's trade deficit widened more sharply than expected in October, after exports plunged, signalling the contribution of net exports to growth in the final quarter might not be as substantial as in the third quarter. Australia's trade deficit rose from a revised $2.40 billion in September to $3.31 billion in October, the Australian Bureau of Statistics reported. Economists, however, had expected a $2.60 billion shortfall. Exports dropped 3% in October from a month earlier, driven by a 3% decline in non-rural good exports. At the same time, imports remained largely flat in October, increasing by $74 million.
The third-quarter data released earlier in the week showed the Australian economy expanded 0.9% in the three months, driven by an increase in net exports over the quarter, which contributed some 1.5 percentage points to GDP, after subtracting 0.6 percentage points from growth in the second quarter. In addition to that, final household consumption was also one of the biggest contributors to growth last quarter, climbing 0.7%. Measured on an annual basis, the Australian economy expanded 2.5% in the three months through September from a year ago, compared with 1.9% in the previous quarter and overshooting forecasts for a 2.4% growth.
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