Presented for consideration is a line chart illustrating how much Australia exported to Japan, the United States, China, and India in the 22-year period between 1990 and 2012.
Overall, it is apparent that China and India followed an upward trend, while Japan and the US saw a decrease. Notably, China had significant growth from near the bottom to the top of the ranking at the end.
Looking at China and India, the two countries started at the lowest position at around 3%. In the first 10 years, Australia’s exports to India basically remained unchanged; then they steadily increased to less than 10% in 2010 before falling to less than 5% in 2012. On the contrary, it can be seen that China experienced a far more drastic change. Its figure witnessed a small growth of 5% after 10 years; then it soared rapidly and reached a peak of almost 30%, which was also the highest percentage in 2012.
Turning to the remaining statistics, Japan began with the largest proportion; however, its figure declined consistently over time and finally reached 16%. Regarding the United States, its percentage of exports fluctuated but mainly decreased throughout the timeframe, starting with more than 10% and falling to half at the end.