According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), Australia posted a seasonally adjusted merchandise trade surplus of A$3.681 billion in December. That exceeded expectations for a surplus of A$2.225 billion and was up sharply from the A$2.256 billion surplus in November.

In trend terms, the balance on goods and services was a surplus of $2,796m in December 2018, an increase of $131m on the surplus in November 2018.

In seasonally adjusted terms, goods and services credits fell $634m (2%) to $37,924m. Non-monetary gold fell $1,034m (57%) and net exports of goods under merchanting fell $1m (3%). Rural goods rose $353m (10%) and non-rural goods rose $33m. Services credits rose $16m.

In seasonally adjusted terms, goods and services debits fell $2,058m (6%) to $34,244m. Capital goods fell $1,070m (15%), intermediate and other merchandise goods fell $717m (6%) and consumption goods fell $653m (7%). Non-monetary gold rose $161m (45%). Services debits rose $222m (3%).

In original terms, the balance on goods and services for 2018 was a surplus of A$22.2b, an increase of A$12.7b on the surplus of A$9.5b recorded in 2017, resulting from a A$51.1b (13%) increase in goods and services credits and a $38.4b (10%) increase in goods and services debits.