The chart illustrates the proportions of goods exported from Australia to four distinct nations namely Japan, the US, China and India from 1990 to 2012.
Overall, there was an upward trend in Australian exports to the US and India while an opposite pattern was true for the other two countries. Moreover, initially being the leading importer, Japan was eventually surpassed by China in the latter period.
Regarding the first year, Japan imported the most Australian merchandise, about 26%, which was 15% higher than that of the second ranked – US, whereas China and India recorded a relatively similar starting point, at around 3%. Nevertheless, the figure for Japan experienced a significant drop to a low of 18% in 2002, in which Chinese rate ultimately overtook that of Japanese after a steady rise from 1990 onwards. Then, although the percentage of Australian exports to Japan remained stable, the quantity for China constantly increased and reached its peak of around 26% in the final year.
Concerning the remaining two destinations, having hovered around 1% in the first decade, India had imported more goods from Australia by 2000, notably peaking at 7% in 2010. Unlike Japan, the share of American imports from Australia consistently fluctuated around 6% and 11%, consequently, finishing at 7% in 2012.