The line graph illustrates the Australian export volume to four countries, namely Japan, the US, China, and India, between 1990 and 2012.
Overall, there were increases in the export proportions to China and India over the period, while the opposite was true for those to Japan and the US. Additionally, China experienced the most significant growth, becoming the largest importer at the end of the period, while Japan was the largest importer for most of the given timeframe.
Regarding India and China, in 1990, among the four destinations, these two countries were the smallest exporters of Australia, with negligible figures of 1% and 2%, respectively. Thereafter, China’s importance rose over the period, as the export rate to this country had grown steadily to 5% by 2000, before quintupling to just under 30% over the next 12 years. Likewise, India’s share experienced similar changes, albeit to a much lesser extent, stabilizing at around 1% until 2000, followed by a steady incline to peak at approximately 7% in 2009 before ending the period with a marginal fall of 2%.
Concerning the remaining countries, initially, Japan was the leading destination shown for Australian goods, with more than a quarter of total exports going there, twice the figure for the US, at 11%. In the following years, while the share of exports to Japan fell to 17% and remained relatively unchanged at this level towards the end of the period, that of the US fluctuated wildly, bottoming out at 5% in 2010 before recovering slightly to 7% in the final year.