Report on the Recent Economic Performance of Australia (2015-2019)

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of the Australian economy's performance between 2015 and 2019, focusing on key economic indicators. It examines GDP growth, unemployment rates, inflation trends, and trade patterns, including the terms of trade, current account, net foreign debt, and the value of the Australian dollar. The report utilizes graphical analysis to illustrate trends and fluctuations in these indicators. It also highlights major issues facing the Australian economy, such as job crises, climatic variations, and financial problems, and their impact on the country's economic growth. The report concludes with an assessment of the overall economic performance and offers insights into the government's efforts to address these challenges.

Running head: RECENT PERFORMANCE OF AUSTRALIAN ECONOMY
RECENT PERFORMANCE OF AUSTRALIAN ECONOMY
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note
Course ID:

1RECENT PERFORMANCE OF AUSTRALIAN ECONOMY
Abstract
The report wanted to study how Australian economy performed in recent year, 2019. Even
the report analyzed the comparative analysis of the economic performance over four years
that is from 2014 to 2015. With the help of graphical analysis, the GDP growth, inflation rate,
jobless rate and trade pattern are studied. The outcome of the report stated that due to climatic
variation, financial problems and job crisis, the economic growth of the Australian economy
have slowed down. However, the Australian economy showed better performance in 2019
when compared to the year 2015.

2RECENT PERFORMANCE OF AUSTRALIAN ECONOMY
Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................3
Discussion..................................................................................................................................3
Trend Analysis.......................................................................................................................3
Economic Growth based on the rate of GDP.....................................................................3
Rate of Unemployment in Australia..................................................................................4
Inflation Rate of Australia..................................................................................................5
Trade-in Australia..............................................................................................................7
Problems faced by Australia..................................................................................................7
Conclusion..................................................................................................................................8
Reference....................................................................................................................................9

3RECENT PERFORMANCE OF AUSTRALIAN ECONOMY
Introduction
Australia is a country with a mixed and massive economy. Australian Gross Domestic
Product (GDP) rate helps in studying the performance of the Australian economy. This means
that if the GDP rate is high, then the country, Australia will be in a good economic condition
(Oup.com.au 2019). The main of the report is to focus on how the economy of Australia is
performing in the recent year that is in 2019.
The report with the help of trend analysis will also focus on the performance of the
concerned country’s economic growth in the last four years that is from 2015 to 2019. With
the help of four macroeconomic indicators, the study will be conducted, which are the growth
of GDP rate, unemployment rate, trade and inflation. In the end, after the study, the report
will indicate the significant problems, which are hindering the economic condition of
Australia.
Discussion
Trend Analysis
Economic Growth based on the rate of GDP
GDP of a country is known to be a significant measure to analyze the success of a
country's economy. Similarly, in Australia, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) collects
the data of all finished products and the services produced (Treasury.gov.au 2019). Then the
ABS calculates the GDP of Australia by adding consumption, government expenditure,
investment and net exports. In this way, the economic condition of Australia is studied.
Figure 1: Australian economic growth rate
GDP(%
Year

4RECENT PERFORMANCE OF AUSTRALIAN ECONOMY
(Source: Tradingeconomics.com 2019)
The above chart shows the trend pattern of Australia economic growth from 2015 to
2019. Here, the GDP growth rate is measured over time. Australia over these mentioned
years faced a fluctuating trend. This means that the economy of Australia remained unstable
from 2015 to 2019. In 2019, since there has been an increase in household consumption,
therefore the dwelling investment also rose. Even in 2019, the expenditure by the
Government and net export rose, which led to the rise in percentage of GDP growth in the
Australian economy around the second quarter of 2019. However, this rise in the growth rate
was found to be minimal after the time of the economic crisis faced by the economy of
Australia when compared with the mentioned years that is 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2019. The
rate of growth rate in GDP only increased by 1.4 per cent. The maximum growth rate of
production output was seen in the year 2017 as well as during the mid-2018. During early
June 2019, the growth rate fell to 0.1 per cent. Thus, the economic growth of Australia fell.
The fall in their growth rate of GDP was mainly because the mentioned country
Australia faced a poor and adverse climatic situation in late 2018 and during the beginning of
2019. In order to improve the Australian economic condition, the government of the chosen
country adopted significant policies, which reduced the tax rate following a rise in net exports
and aggregate demand (Pc.gov.au 2019). This helped in more manufacturing of products and
services. Consequently, more consumption and savings or investment will rise in the near
future and will result in the growth of the economy.
Rate of Unemployment in Australia
The unemployment is divided among three different kinds, which are cyclical,
seasonal and frictional. The Australian economy generally follows a cyclical pattern of the
unemployment rate. Tasmania, a region in Australia, experiences the highest rate of
unemployment, as seen in August 2019 (Mobile.abc.net.au 2019).

5RECENT PERFORMANCE OF AUSTRALIAN ECONOMY
Figure 2: Australia trend pattern of the unemployment rate
(Source: Tradingeconomics.com 2019)
Figure 2 depicts the trend pattern of jobless rate in Australia. The trend pattern, which
as can be seen from the following chart states that Australia experiences a cyclical trend over
four years. On the other hand, it is understood that after the economic crisis, the
unemployment rate was high in the year 2015 but is gradually decreasing. In the year 2018,
during mid-August, the unemployed individual rose by 4100 while the employed person
increased by 34,700. During August 2019, again, the jobless rate rose to 5.3 per cent from 5.2
per cent. When the unemployment rate is compared over the four years, then it can be stated
that the employment rate increased and the unemployment rate is slowly decreasing.
Similarly, in this case, also due to the unstable weather condition in Australia, many
industries are shutting down because of low production, which leads to the cut down in the
labor force. Hence, the unemployment rate increased during August 2019.
The Australian Government recently are focusing on building a partnership with G20
partners in order to solve the worldwide faced issues. This helped in providing new jobs to
unemployed persons. As a result, the income of the country is rising, which will in the future
lead to a better economic performance of Australia (Oecd.org 2019). The Government is
taking the initiative to improvise new policies and reframing the payment structure.
Inflation Rate of Australia
High inflation rate occurs when there is a rise in the percentage of GDP in Australia
and fall in the unemployment rate in that mentioned country. The inflation rate is measured in
Unem
Year

6RECENT PERFORMANCE OF AUSTRALIAN ECONOMY
terms of consumer prices. ABS collects and calculates the price index of the consumer, which
helps to study the inflation rate fluctuation in Australia.
Figure 3: Inflation rate of Australia
(Source: Tradingeconomics.com 2019)
The above graphical chart explains the trend pattern of the Australian inflation rate.
The inflation rate in Australia is varied differently from 2015 to 2019. Recently, in 2019, the
inflation rate increased by 1.6 per cent. The prices related to the consumers was also raised by
0.6 per cent. After the financial crisis, the economy did not face deflation during the
mentioned period. However, the Australian economy faced high inflation as well as low
inflation. Late 2016, the inflation rate was found to be low. It was because the economy was
adjusting to grow from the time of the financial crisis. Although, the inflation rate touched
the peak around early 2017, which can be said that the economy at that time did not perform
well. The country, therefore, adjusted the inflation rate gradually. Hence, from the yearly
budget, it is found that there has been an improvement in the deficit that has been there in the
net operating balance. Even the revenue also rose to 493.3 AUD more than it was expected
(Budget.gov.au 2019). Investment also rose during recent times.
Recently, the Reserve Bank of Australia have kept a target of keeping the rate of
inflation to be around 2 to 3 per cent approximately. The government is hoping that this range
will help the employment rate to rise and price level to be stable so that Australia can achieve
its economic welfare (Rba.gov.au 2019).
Rate o
Year

7RECENT PERFORMANCE OF AUSTRALIAN ECONOMY
Trade-in Australia
The terms of trade in Australia generally states import and export performance. Thus,
when the terms of the trade get better, it means that the export value rises compared to the
import values. Australia's major export is from the mining and agricultural sector (Wto.org
2019). Therefore, a graphical chart has been shown below, which will help to study the
pattern of terms of trade in Australia.
Figure 4: Terms of Trade of Australia
(Source: Tradingeconomics.com 2019)
From the above picture, it can be determined that the terms of trade have been
continuously rising, showing a rising trend over four years. The terms of trade in Australia
have achieved around 100.20 index points during the beginning of August 2019. However,
2017 has been a year where the terms of trade were around 95 index points. Thus, the values
that are obtained states that with a rising term of trade, the amount of import compared to the
amount of export also rose. Therefore, throughout 2017 to 2019, the terms of trade have
improved. While, due to the financial crisis, the terms of trade remained low from 2015 to
2016.
Problems faced by Australia
Based on the analysis, three significant issues faced by Australia are identified. Job
crisis is one of the significant issues that has been seen in Australia, and it may continue in
the next 12 months (Finance.gov.au 2019). The unemployment problem is mainly caused by
low demand for the products that are produced in the Australian market. Recently, climatic
fluctuation in Australia is a significant concern. Farmers are affected due to low rainfall
Tr
Year

8RECENT PERFORMANCE OF AUSTRALIAN ECONOMY
(Debelle 2019). Australia is facing significant financial problems. Due to unemployment, cost
of living of individuals is lowering (Abc.net.au 2019). This is affecting the country’s GDP.
Hence, economic performance growth in Australia is weak.
Conclusion
The report concludes that over four years, the Australian economic performance has
improved when trade and the inflation rate is considered. However, when the year 2019 is
compared with the year 2015, then the Australian economic performance has improved. Since
after the global financial crisis, there was a massive fall in the economic growth of Australia;
therefore, the economy did not show improvement during the time of 2015 or 2016.
Gradually, the economy of Australia is getting better because the government of Australia is
taking the initiative to solve the problems faced by the economy.

9RECENT PERFORMANCE OF AUSTRALIAN ECONOMY
Reference
Abc.net.au 2019. Jan's husband works full-time, but they'll have a mortgage into their 70s.
[online] ABC News. Available at: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-07-02/the-financial-
concerns-keeping-australians-up-at-night/11267778 [Accessed 24 Sep. 2019].
Budget.gov.au 2019. [online] Budget.gov.au. Available at:
https://budget.gov.au/2018-19/fbo/FBO_2018-19_web.pdf [Accessed 23 Sep. 2019].
Debelle, G. (2019, March). Climate Change and the Economy. In Public Forum hosted by
the Centre for Policy Development, Sydney (Vol. 12).
Finance.gov.au 2019. Department of Finance |. [online] Finance.gov.au. Available at:
http://www.finance.gov.au [Accessed 24 Sep. 2019].
Mobile.abc.net.au 2019. Unemployment creeps back up to 5 per cent despite strong jobs
growth - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation). [online] Mobile.abc.net.au.
Available at: https://mobile.abc.net.au/news/2019-04-18/employment-and-unemployment-
march-2019/11028402 [Accessed 23 Sep. 2019].
Oecd.org 2019. OECD.org - OECD. [online] Oecd.org. Available at: http://www.oecd.org
[Accessed 23 Sep. 2019].
Oup.com.au 2019. [online] Oup.com.au. Available at:
https://www.oup.com.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0025/58255/Chapter-18-Measuring-
Australias-economic-performance.pdf [Accessed 23 Sep. 2019].
Pc.gov.au 2019. Productivity Commission. [online] Pc.gov.au. Available at:
http://www.pc.gov.au [Accessed 23 Sep. 2019].
Rba.gov.au 2019. Reserve Bank of Australia. [online] Reserve Bank of Australia. Available
at: http://www.rba.gov.au [Accessed 24 Sep. 2019].
Tradingeconomics.com 2019. TRADING ECONOMICS | 20 million INDICATORS FROM
196 COUNTRIES. [online] Tradingeconomics.com. Available at:
https://tradingeconomics.com/ [Accessed 23 Sep. 2019].
Treasury.gov.au 2019. Treasury.gov.au. [online] Treasury.gov.au. Available at:
https://www.treasury.gov.au/ [Accessed 24 Sep. 2019].

10RECENT PERFORMANCE OF AUSTRALIAN ECONOMY
Wto.org (2019). World Trade Organization - Global trade. [online] Wto.org. Available at:
http://www.wto.org [Accessed 24 Sep. 2019].