Australian Agriculture

Australia is one of the world's most efficient and technologically advanced agricultural producers, enjoying vast spaces, a diverse climate range and world-leading, dependable infrastructure. Able to provide the highest quality food produced under clean and sustainable conditions, Australia is also internationally recognised for its strict quarantine measures, being completely free of many agricultural diseases and pests found in other parts of the world.

Australian production systems are generally less intensive and use less chemicals than in most other producing regions in the world and produces high quality food products for the world market. Australian farmland is deservedly viewed as profitable, sustainable and producing under world leading management practices.

Production & Exports

As a significant competitor in the world agricultural export market, Australia is in tune with global trends and equipped with the very latest farming technologies.

With over 120,000 farms nationally, the Australian farming industry and related sectors generate a production revenue of over AUD $130 billion annually constituting 12% of Australia's GDP. Exports of Agricultural product average AUD$36 billion per annum.

The gross farm-gate value of Australian farm production is currently AUD$48 billion a year, with wheat production comprising AUD$8.1 billion of that total.

Overseas exports currently make up about 75% of the total gross value of Australian national farm production. With a highly developed storage and logistics infrastructure, Australia can efficiently export agricultural goods all year round to anywhere in the world.

In terms of world trade, Australia has annual average exports of;

• Wheat              21mt of world trade of 130mt
• Coarse Grains     7mt of world trade of 120mt
• Rice                  0.7mt of world trade of 30mt
• Cotton              1mt of world trade of 8mt
• Sugar                3.5mt of world trade of 50mt
• Wool                 430kt of world trade of 500kt

Currently, Australia is the world’s largest exporter of live sheep, sheep meat, live goats, wool, chickpeas, lupins and Chia. It is the world’s second largest exporter of beef, barley, lamb and live cattle and one of the world’s top five exporters of wheat, oats, canola, pulses, sugar and dairy products.

Australia's AUD$36 billion of agricultural exports are directed to;

• Asia             62%
• Europe         8%
• Middle East   8%
• USA             7%

States & Produce

Click here to learn about Australian states and what each state produces.