The Northern Territory (NT) economy is a small open economy influenced by trade, investment and movements in commodity prices and exchange rates. In this section, analysis is provided on the NT's trade balance, trade in goods and services, national and global conditions, exchange rates, as well as key trading partners and commodities relevant to the NT economy.
Key facts | Trade balance | Major trading partners | Goods exports | Goods imports | Service exports | Service imports | National trade | Global economy | Explanatory notes
The NT has a small open economy that is significantly influenced by external factors, such as investment associated with major projects, economic conditions in trading nations, commodity prices and exchange rates. The structure of the economy reflects the NT’s abundant natural resources, strategic defence significance, tourism attractions and relatively large government and community services sector.
National and international economic activity influences the NT economy through changes to exchange rates, commodity prices, population flows, interstate trade volumes, tourism activity and the availability of workers to meet the NT’s labour requirements. Additionally, monetary policy set by the Reserve Bank of Australia influences household consumption, business confidence and investment in the NT.
Major Asian economies, including Japan, China, Taiwan, Singapore, Republic of Korea and Indonesia, are in close proximity to the NT and have significant trade ties that make them 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.
Key facts
- The NT has recorded a trade surplus for over a decade, mainly due to high value exports related to energy and mineral products.
- In 2021-22, the NT had the second highest level of exports as a share of gross state product (GSP), consistent with the other mining states of Western Australia and Queensland, which highlights the resource-intensive nature of the NT economy (Chart 1).
- The NT’s trade balance mainly consists of goods, with service imports contributing 5.7% to total imports and service exports contributing 3.2% to total exports.
A depreciation in the Australian dollar may decrease (increase) demand for service imports (exports) as domestic services become relatively more affordable.
Trade balance 2021-22
- In 2021-22, the NT’s trade balance fell by 4.8% to $7.8 billion, above the 10-year average of $5.0 billion (Chart 2).
- Net exports of goods decreased by 4.0% to $7.6 billion, reflecting a 47.6% increase in goods imports and a 6.6% increase in goods exports. An increase in imports deteriorates the trade balance.
- Net exports of services decreased by 29.6% to $174 million, reflecting a 66.4% increase in service imports and service exports unchanged (Chart 3).
- The increase in goods exports to $17.1 billion (Chart 4) reflects an increase in confidential items (up by 100.9%).
- For the latest available data and analysis, see the Department of Treasury and Finance’s Gross state product economic brief.
Major trading partners
Goods exports
In the year to February 2023:
- The NT’s value of exports rose by 7.7% to $15.5 billion.
- Japan was the largest export market for the NT (up by $1.9 billion to $7.6 billion), followed by Taiwan (up by $1.0 billion to $2.0 billion) and China (down by $623 million to $1.8 billion) (Chart 5).
- Main commodities exported from the NT were confidential items (most likely liquefied natural gas) (67.3%), petroleum and petroleum-related products (16.6%) and metalliferous ores and metal scrap (7.3%).
Goods imports
In the year to February 2023:
- The NT’s value of imports rose by 50.8% to $2.3 billion.
- The largest import markets were Republic of Korea (up by $663 million to $862 million), Taiwan (up by $175 million to $250 million) and Singapore (down by $77 million to $214 million) (Chart 6).
- Main commodities imported to the NT were petroleum and petroleum-related products (48.5%), transport equipment (excl. road vehicles) (14.4%) and road vehicles (11.2%).
Service exports
- Remained flat at $357 million in 2021-22.
- The major components of the NT’s international service exports include personal travel services and government goods and services.
Service imports
- Increased 66.4% to $183 million in 2021-22.
- The major components of the NT’s international service imports include freight services and personal travel services.
National trade
In the year to February 2023:
- Australia’s national trade balance increased by 19.8% to $145.5 billion.
- This reflects an increase in trade of goods (up by 35.9% to $165.6 billion), partly offset by a deficit in the trade of services of $20.1 billion.
Global economy
- The latest International Monetary Fund (IMF) World Economic Outlook (WEO) April 2023 states that the global economy continues to face challenges including the Russia-Ukraine conflict, the rise in central bank rates to fight inflation and more recently, financial stability concerns. The global economy is expected to grow by 2.8% in 2023, lower than their forecast from the January 2023 update.
- For more information and analysis on the global economy, visit the IMF website.
- For more information regarding exchange rates and commodity type and prices, see the Reserve Bank of Australia and World Bank websites.
Explanatory notes
- The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) publishes data on the NT’s trade balance annually. This is in line with the GSP expenditure measure.
- International trade statistics are based on monthly data published by the ABS. This release provides preliminary estimates of Australia’s international goods and services on a balance of payments basis, and merchandise import and export statistics on an international merchandise trade basis.
- A large proportion of trade data has been confidentialised by the ABS. Data can be confidentialised by the source if a supplier’s privacy is easily identified, for example, the NT only has one exporter of uranium. Recent changes in classification of confidential items have further increased the proportion of confidentialised NT data.
- International service exports represents income received by local businesses from overseas travelers, foreign businesses, foreign students and foreign government personnel (mostly defence) for services provided including meals, education, accommodation, entertainment and tourism activities. Service imports reflect expenditure by Territorians on services provided overseas. The ABS releases data for the NT’s services trade on a biannual basis, based on the most current financial year and calendar year results.
- The IMF publishes a WEO report biannually, which consists of an analyses by IMF staff economists on global economic developments during the near and medium term. An associated WEO database is released along with the WEO report, which presents the IMF staff’s analysis and forecasts of economic developments at the global level. The IMF also releases quarterly updates on global economic developments. These are not a full WEO report and do not include an update on the analysis and forecasts published in a full WEO report.
- The World Bank releases data on commodities and their prices on a monthly basis.
