Economy of Australia

1.The Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. For at least 40,000 years before European settlement in the late 18th century, Australia was inhabited by indigenous Australians, who belonged to one or more of roughly 250 language groups. After discovery by Dutch explorers in 1606, Australia's eastern half was claimed by Britain in 1770. On 1 January 1901, the six colonies became a federation and the Commonwealth of Australia was formed. Since Federation, Australia has maintained a stable liberal democratic political system and is a Commonwealth realm.

2. Most of the estimated 22 million Australians are descended from colonial-era settlers and post-Federation immigrants from Europe, with almost 90% of the population being of European descent The Indigenous population was counted at 2.2% of the total population. Indigenous Australians experience higher than average rates of imprisonment and unemployment, lower levels of education, and life expectancies.

3. Australia has a free-market economy with high GDP per capita and low rate of poverty. Australia's per-capita GDP is slightly higher than that of the UK, Germany, and France in terms of purchasing power parity. The emphasis on exporting commodities rather than manufactures has underpinned a significant increase in Australia's terms of trade since the start of the century, due to rising commodity prices.

4. The service sector of the economy, including tourism, education and financial services, constitutes 69% of GDP. The agricultural and mining sectors (10% of GDP combined) account for 57% of the nation's exports. Rich in natural resources, Australia is a major exporter of agricultural products, particularly wheat and wool, minerals such as iron-ore and gold, and energy in the forms of liquefied natural gas and coal. In the past decade, one of the most significant sectoral trends experienced by the economy has been the growth (in relative terms) of the mining sector (including petroleum). Despite high global demand for Australian mineral commodities, export growth has remained flat in comparison to strong import growth. Even though Australia enjoys high commodity prices, economists have warned that structural change is needed in order to increase the size of manufacturing sector.

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