Australia Economy and the Major 5 Member of Asean Economic
Australia Economy and the Major 5 Member of Asean Economic
1. SNAPSHOT OF THE AUSTRALIA ECONOMY AND THE MAJOR 5 MEMBERS OF ASEAN ECONOMICS
Australia
Indonesia
Philippine
Thailand
Malaysia
Singapore
Populationпј?2006пј‰
20,434,176
245,452,739
89,468,677
64,631,595
24,385,858
4,492,150
Population growth rate пј?2006пј‰
1.4%
Population density per sq mi: (2006)
18,645
Annual inflation rate(2006)
Unemployment rate(2006)
GDP growth rate(2006)
Exports as a % of GDP(2006)
100.2
205.3
Current account balance as a % of GDP(2006)
Saving rate as a % of GDP(2005)
Official interest rate(2006)
3.25-4.75
A representative commercial interest rate(6/7 months term deposit)
Urbanisation rate(2005)
Exchange rate ->$US(2007 Aug)
46.73
34.67
1.52
The % change in the �local’ currency cost of the $US(2006)
-7..0
-4.6
Principal 3 trading partners in order of important
Japan, China, U.S.
Japan, U.S., Singapore
Japan, U.S., Netherlands
U.S., Japan, China
U.S., Singapore, Japan
Malaysia, U.S., Hong Kong
Principal exports
coal, gold, meat
oil and gas, electrical appliances
electronic equipment, machinery
textiles and footwear, fishery products
electronic equipment, petroleum and liquefied natural gas
machinery and equipment, mineral fuels
Principal imports
machinery and transport equipment, computers
machinery and equipment, chemicals
raw materials, machinery and equipment
capital goods, intermediate goods and raw materials
electronics, machinery, petroleum products
machinery and equipment, mineral fuels
Political system
parliamentary democracy
republic with a presidential system
republic
electoral democracy with monarchy
federal constitutional elective monarchy
republic
The political leader
John Howard
Jusuf Anwar
Gloria Macapagal Arroyo
Thaksin
Abdullah Badawi
Lee Hsien Loong
Principal religions(2004)
Roman Catholic
Islam,
Roman Catholic
Buddhist
Muslim, Buddhist
Buddhist
3 Social indicators
Murder rate
0.49
Infant mortality rate(2005)
4.6/1000
34.4/1000
22.8/1000
19.5/1000
17.2/1000
2.3/1000
Literacy rate(2003)
Comments on the contents of the table
As it is shown from the table, Australia and major 5 members of ASEAN have many elements in common. In terms of unemployment rate, inflation and population growth rate, there are only a slight difference within these countries. In terms of annual GDP, for example all this countries have a positive economic growth while Australia had the least GDP growth rate in 2006, and Singapore’s GDP was increased most rapidly in 2006. Moreover, in terms of their trading partners, nearly every country has the trading partnership with US, Japan and China. However, there are a lot of differences between these countries as well. In terms of current account, it is negative in Australia, when it is positive in other countries. Furthermore, the total amount of population, population density and exports rate etc. are quiet different.
Sources of data:
2. THE COMPARATIVE HISTORICAL PROFILE OF THE ASEAN-5 AND AUSRALIA’S ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT OVER THE LAST 40 YEARS
2.1 Real GDP Growth
Figure 2.1 Real GDP growth rate
The graph shows that from 1961 the real GDP was keep growing up and the growth rate reached the peak in 1968, however it experienced a slight decrease from 1981 to 1983, and in 1990 as well. The real GDP of other two countries(Thailand and Indonesia) increased