Major trading partners – calendar year results

The Northern Territory (NT) is geographically located close to major Asian economies including China, Japan, Taiwan, Malaysia and Singapore, and as could be expected, these are some of the NT's major trading partners. The NT also relies on goods imports from the United States of America and the European Union, which are also identified as key trading partners. In this section, analysis on the NT's major trading partners is provided by calendar year, for both exports and imports.

2021 Activity

Please note, some of the main items of trade have been confidentialised by the ABS due to sensitivity of specific commodities and limited sources of goods and merchandise, which makes suppliers easily identifiable.

Map 1: The Territory’s major goods trading partners, 2020^{1, 2}

1  Current prices.
2  This map is produced from various sources. Department of Treasury and Finance cannot guarantee the accuracy, currency or completeness of the information. To be used as a guide only.
3  Excluding special administrative regions (Macau and Hong Kong) and Taiwan.
Source: Department of Treasury and Finance, ABS, International Trade in Goods and Services, Cat. No. 5368.0

China

China was the NT’s second largest export market, representing 22.9% of the Territory’s exports. Goods exported fell by 17.0% to $2.2 billion, driven by a decrease in the confidential items category (likely liquefied natural gas).
Goods imported fell by 12.7% to $110 million, and the share of imports was 7.5%.

Japan

Japan was the NT’s largest export market in 2021, after overtaking China in 2019, representing 41.2% of the Territory’s exports. Goods exported increased by 20.7% to $5.3 billion, driven by increases in other commodities and metalliferous ores and metal scrap categories.
Goods imported increased by 27.4% to $149 million, and the share of imports was 10.2%

Taiwan

Goods exported to Taiwan fell by 3.2% to $1.0 billion, driven by a decrease in the confidential items category (likely liquefied natural gas).
Goods imported increased by 47.5% to $50 million, and the share of imports was 3.4%.

Malaysia

Goods exported to Malaysia fell by 16.5% to $111 million, driven by a decrease the confidential items category (likely liquefied natural gas).
Malaysia was the NT’s largest import market in 2021, representing 19.8% of the Territory’s imports. Goods imported increased by 45.7% to $290 million, driven by an increase in petroleum and petroleum related products.

Singapore

Goods exported to Singapore increased by 477.0% to $1.7 billion, driven by an increase in the confidential items category (likely liquefied natural gas).
Goods imported increased by 75.8% to $283 million, and the share of imports was 19.3%.

Canada

Goods exported to Canada fell by 43.4% to $112 million, driven by a decrease in the confidential items category (likely liquefied natural gas).
Goods imported increased by 140.0% to $12 million, and the share of imports was 0.8%.

United States of America

Goods exported to the United States of America increased by 133.3% to $7 million, driven by an increase in the transport equipment (excl. road vehicles) category.
Goods imported fell by 5.0% to $57 million, and the share of imports was 3.9%.

Indonesia

Goods exported to Indonesia increased by 7.2% to $447 million, driven by increases in the confidential items (likely liquefied natural gas) and other commodities categories.
Goods imported fell by 8.3% to $11 million, and the share of imports was 0.8%.

Republic of Korea

Goods exported to the Republic of Korea increased by 23.6% to $755 million, driven by increases in the confidential items (likely liquefied natural gas) and other commodities categories.
Goods imported increased by 750.0% to $204 million, and the share of imports was 13.9%.

India

Goods exported to India fell by 13.7% to $157 million, driven by a decrease in the confidential items category (likely liquefied natural gas).
Goods imported fell by 20.0% to $12 million, and the share of imports was 0.8%.

Vietnam

Goods exported to Vietnam fell by 31.3% to $114 million, driven by a decrease in the live animals category.
Goods imported remained unchanged at $8 million, and the share of imports was 0.5%.

Papua New Guinea

Goods exported to Papua New Guinea increased by 103.7% to $389 million, driven by an increase in the confidential items (likely liquefied natural gas) and other commodities categories.
Goods imported remained unchanged.

European Union

The European Union (EU) consists of 27 member states, Austria, Belgium (including Belgium Luxembourg), Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France (including the French Antilles), Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands (including the Netherlands Antilles), Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden.

Goods exported to the EU fell by 30.6% to $177 million, driven by a decreases in other commodities and transport equipment (excl. road vehicles) categories.
Goods imported increased by 20.8% to $93 million, and the share of imports was 6.4%.

Department of
Treasury and Finance

Northern Territory Economy