The line graph illustrates the proportion of Australian exports to four different countries between 1990 and 2012.
Overall, it is evident that the proportion of exports to China experienced a steady increase throughout the period, becoming the largest export destination for Australia by the end of the period. Conversely, exports to the United States and Japan declined, with Japan showing a gradual decrease and the US experiencing fluctuating declines. India, on the other hand, showed an upward trend but remained the lowest throughout the period.
Turning to the specific data, exports to Japan decreased steadily from approximately 22% in 1990 to around 16% in 2012. Similarly, exports to the US exhibited a fluctuating decline, starting at about 11% and falling to around 6% over the same period.
In contrast, the proportion of exports to China grew significantly from nearly 2% in 1990 to about 28% by 2012. This marked increase allowed China to overtake the US and Japan as Australia’s largest export destination around 2004 and 2006, respectively. Regarding India, exports remained relatively stable at about 1% until 2000, before rising sharply to approximately 7% in 2010, and then slightly decreasing to 5% by 2012.