Australia’s Q2 Export Price Index registered -8.5% qoq drop, the most substantial quarterly decline since Q3 2009. Concurrently, the index declined -11.2% yoy compared to the same quarter last year. On the flip side, Import Price Index dipped slightly by -0.8% qoq, – 0.3% yoy.
Michelle Marquardt, Head of Price Statistics at Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), attributed this steep fall in the Export Price Index to a substantial contraction in global energy demand. “Global economic slowdown and eased supply pressures are contributing to a retreat in energy prices from their 2022 peak,” said Marquardt.
The dampening effect of weaker energy prices extended to the Import Price Index, which saw a decline of -0.8% in Q2 2023. More specifically, the prices of petroleum and petroleum products decreased by -7.0% in this quarter. Nevertheless, this decline in energy prices was somewhat counterbalanced by inflationary pressures on various imported consumption and capital goods.
Full Australia international trade price indexes release here.
