International trade

International trade encourages the exchange and adoption of internationally competitive innovations.

Trade exposure, top 6 industries, 2022–23

Full description follows.

Trade exposure encourages the adoption of international competitive innovations. Data updated in August 2025, see the Recent AIS data updates page for details. Source: ABS 2025a

This chart illustrates the trade exposure of Australian industries in 2022–23. It indicates that the mining sector has the highest export propensity, followed by the manufacturing and agriculture, forestry, and fishing industries. The manufacturing sector also has the highest import penetration. See the full chart value of the data.

Exports and imports of intellectual property

Full description follows.

Australia’s imports of  have exceeded its exports of intellectual property since records began. Metric added in August 2025, see Recent AIS data updates page for details. Source ABS 2024b, 2024l

This chart shows an increase of Australia's import and export of intellectual property over the past 30 years. See the full chart value of the data.

 

Foreign Direct Investment in Australia, top 6 industries

Full description follows.

Foreign Direct Investment encourages the introduction of new ideas and technologies from overseas. Data updated in August 2025, see the Recent AIS data updates page for details. Source: ABS 2019d, 2024e, 2025b                                                     

This chart shows the value of inward foreign direct investment (FDI) across 6 industries from 2015 to 2024.

Across the majority of industries, the amount of inward FDI has increased over this period. The industry with the most inward FDI is mining. The other industries with the largest inward FDI are the financial & insurance and real estate industries. See the full chart value of the data.

Chart values

Trade exposure of Australian industries in 2022–23 (%)
Industry Import penetration Export penetration
Accommodation & Food Services 14.77 11.47
Agriculture, Forestry & Fishing 2.55 29.39

Information Media &

Telecommunications

 16.96 7.04

Manufacturing

 

 59.07 31.75

Mining

 

 15.27 80.76
Transport, Postal & Warehousing 9.37 5.87

Direct Investment in Australia ($bn)
Industry 2015 2018 2021 2024
Mining & Quarrying 313.831 365.516 369.012 407.699

Manufacturing

 

 90.528 107.651 110.429 128.814
Wholesale & Retail Trade 52.851 56.667 65.222 75.008
Information, Media & Communication 26.435 26.891 32.145 53.909
Financial & Insurance 63.713 107.529 126.308 160.942

Real Estate 

 

 58.102 102.851 138.391 145.349

Australia's import and export of intellectual property ($m, 2023 dollars)
Year Exports Imports 
1993 766.9377 1465.087
1994 983.4254 1633.785
1995 959.1281 1698.113
1996 1000 1853.165
1997 1339.779 2191.316
1998 1318.182 2316.819
1999 1632.597 2513.444
2000 1817.204 2584.197
2001 1557.416 2269.637
2002 1507.143 2579.882
2003 1696.078 2831.891
2004 1871.795 3290.682
2005 1752.914 3578.947
2006 1736.735 3824.397
2007 1639.155 4521.622
2008 1594.096 4831.276
2009 1538.7 4458.025
2010 1932.605 5294.118
2011 1430.577 5845.599
2012 1276.923 5852.647
2013 1430.272 5911.175
2014 1556.65 5988.016
2015 2781.818 6697.889
2016 3469.428 7048.969
2017 3788.256 7985.392
2018 4454.545 9168.407
2019 4750.765 9370.69
2020 5340.267 10296.74
2021 6306.61 11944.72
2022 6703.142 12623.24
2023 7908 13394