Snapshot of agriculture, fisheries and forestry

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Around 60 per cent of Australia’s agricultural production is exported.
Our three largest export destinations for agricultural products are South East Asia, China and Japan, which together account for around 44 per cent of Australian agricultural exports.
Australia is among the world’s largest exporters of wheat, beef, wool and dairy products.
We are a net exporter of food with net exports of around $16 billion in 2010–11.
Our three largest food exports are grains and oilseeds ($8.6 billion), meat ($6.7 billion) and dairy ($2.3 billion).
Our three largest food imports are beverages ($2 billion), processed fruit and vegetables ($1.5 billion) and processed seafood ($1.2 billion).
Food processing is the largest sector in the manufacturing industry.
Aquaculture accounts for almost 40 per cent of the total gross value of fisheries production.
The total gross value of fisheries production for aquaculture and wild-catch (Commonwealth and state) was $2.2 billion in 2009–10.
Forestry plantations supply around three-quarters of all logs harvested in Australia.
The value of forest product exports in 2010–11 is $2.5 billion with woodchip exports accounting for around 36 per cent.

Figure 1 Value of sector—what it's worth to GDP, 2010–11

Figure 2 Gross values of production for agriculture, fisheries and forestry, 2009–10

Figure 3 Value of exports for agriculture, fisheries and forestry, 2010–11

Source: Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences (ABARES)

Last reviewed: 06 Oct 2011

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