Australia is one of the most food secure countries in the world, with ample supplies of safe, healthy food. The vast majority of our food is produced here in Australia, and domestic production more than meets our needs even during drought years.
A startling report released by the Australia Institute has revealed that Australia is ranked last among its global peers of 'developed nations' when it comes to measuring a nation's manufacturing self-sufficiency, with struggling global supply chains dramatically hindering the nation's security and resilience.
The agriculture industry in Australia is essential to the provision of food in the country. More than 90% of the food eaten by Australians is produced at home.
Inflation and inadequate welfare fuelling Australia's food insecurity crisis, Foodbank finds. The cost-of-living crisis and inadequate welfare payments are fuelling a rise in food insecurity in Australian households, according to a new report.
Released today, the Foodbank Hunger Report 2022 reveals alarming details surrounding the food insecurity crisis the country is facing. More than 2 million households in Australia have run out of food in the last year due to limited finances, sometimes skipping meals or going whole days without eating.
Food Waste in Australia
Australian households account for the majority of food waste (2.46 million tonnes) 70% of the 7.6 million tonnes of food wasted in Australia every year is edible.
The bleak news comes as Australia faces the “weakest” rate of economic growth outside the COVID pandemic since the recession in the early 1990s, according to a Deloitte Access Economics Business Outlook report published this week.
Australia is in the midst of a potato shortage. It's caused cafés and resturants to become creative with their menus and one supermarket to introduce customer limits. Only around 70 per cent of the potatoes consumed in Australia are grown here.
The overwhelming majority of food sold in Australia is grown and supplied by Australian farmers. We are able to export more than half of our agricultural produce, while more than 90 per cent of fresh fruit and vegetables, meat, milk and eggs sold in supermarkets are domestically produced.
Between 2021 and 2022, the number of Yemenis facing severe hunger increased by over 1 million – coming out to a record high of 17 million people who don't know where their next meal will come from. Many families survive on nothing more than bread and sweetened tea as rising prices push nutritious foods out of reach.
“In Australia we are lucky because most of our food is grown and produced here. We produce enough food to feed 75 million people. That is enough to feed the entire population three times over. We have a very safe, reliable, and efficient food supply chain.
Who buys our agricultural exports? China is by far the largest importer of Australian agricultural products, accounting for 21 per cent of our total agricultural exports in 2015.
Australia currently exports more agricultural products than we import, with around 70 per cent of Australia's total agricultural production sent overseas.
Absolutely. Australia is a fantastic place to live, even for foreigners. There aren't only advantages to living in Australia, but they outweigh the disadvantages. I love the climate, work-life balance, safety and the wide range of outdoor activities that I can enjoy every weekend.
Australians are the wealthiest people in the world with a typical net worth of almost $US274,000 in 2021, just ahead of Belgium, New Zealand and Hong Kong.
The United States and United Kingdom are the biggest investors in Australia, followed by Belgium, Japan and Singapore.
Yet, to maintain consistent supply and satisfy year-round demand, Australia also needs to import a wide variety of food products into the country every year. Thanks to location-based analytics, you can determine where our food comes from by looking at our Story Map of the world.
Rising interest rates and soaring inflation are spearheading the fastest-rising consumer prices in a generation. New data from Australian National... more. In some instances, households have seen a 10-and-a-half per cent jump from last year.
Australia's imports of food ingredients totaled $12.4 billion in 2021.
Yearly Trade
During the last five reported years the exports of Australia have changed by $139B from $204B in 2016 to $343B in 2021. The most recent exports are led by Iron Ore ($118B), Coal Briquettes ($54.3B), Petroleum Gas ($39.2B), Gold ($17.6B), and Wheat ($7.36B).
Water is a scarce resource in many parts of Australia. To secure water supplies, water is stored above ground (for example, in dams) and below ground in aquifers. This is important in Australia because of variable rainfall, both across the continent and from year-to-year.
Australia has recovered better than most from the COVID pandemic. As measured by gross domestic product (GDP), the economy is now 7 per cent larger than it was before the pandemic.
"That downgrade is centred on our households, and a 'consumer recession' is now forecast in 2023, with household spending expected to finish the year below where it started. "At a cash rate of 3.6 per cent, most Australians will be just fine. "Many, however, will not.
The Australian financial system remains strong and well placed to support economic activity. Australian banks are well regulated, well capitalised, profitable and highly liquid; they are in a strong position to continue lending to domestic households and businesses.