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.
There are also insights confirming what many of us already know: New Zealand is our main source of imported fresh seafood, dairy products and livestock.
Australia is one of the most food secure countries in the world, for several reasons. Australia produces much more food than it consumes, exporting around 70% of agricultural production. We do not produce everything we like to eat however, and imports account for around 11% of food consumption by value.
Imports The top imports of Australia are Refined Petroleum ($19.6B), Cars ($18.8B), Delivery Trucks ($8.08B), Broadcasting Equipment ($6.68B), and Computers ($6.61B), importing mostly from China ($70B), United States ($25.7B), Japan ($15.3B), Thailand ($12.1B), and Germany ($11.6B).
Leading countries worldwide by value of agricultural products imported in 2020. In 2020, China was the leading importer of agricultural goods worldwide, followed by the United States, and Germany. Chinese imports were worth 193.5 billion U.S. dollars.
The state of Australian agricultural exports
China continues to be the largest importer of Australian agricultural products, with Japan, the United States and the Republic of Korea also important markets for Australian agricultural exporters.
Imports of Meat & Meat Preparations in Australia averaged 34.51 AUD Million from 1988 until 2023, reaching an all time high of 109.00 AUD Million in May of 2022 and a record low of 1.00 AUD Million in February of 1988. This page includes a chart with historical data for Australia Imports of Meat & Meat Preparations.
“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.
The 7 most valuable imports into Australia by dollar value are processed petroleum oils, cars, trucks, phone devices including smartphones, computers, crude oil and medication mixes in dosage. Collectively, those products represent a third (33.7%) of the cost for all products that Australia imported during 2022.
Canada and Mexico are the United States' first and third largest suppliers of agricultural products (averaging $30.9 billion and $25.5 billion in 2017–21, respectively). Mexico supplied the United States with 31 percent of imported horticultural products including fruit, vegetables, and alcoholic beverages.
Our diverse soils and climate provide a wide variety of fresh food all year round. Historically we produce far more than we consume domestically. We sell around 65% of farm production overseas, making Australia a leading food-exporting nation.
Today, South Australia's potato production is predominantly along its eastern border in the South East, Mallee and Riverland districts. This range of climatic zones in conjunction with light sandy soils allows year round production of fresh potatoes.
Fresh vegetable imports from particular countries tended to be vegetable-specific with garlic from China, capsicums and tomatoes from New Zealand, onions from the United States, garlic and asparagus from Mexico, and asparagus from Peru.
Australia produces enough to feed 3 times our population. So, there's no doubt about the country's ability to punch above its weight when it comes to agriculture. Dr Ammar Abdul Aziz of UQ's School of Agriculture and Food Sustainability describes Australia as “essentially the superhero for the world's food supply”.
Key Takeaways
The U.S. is the world's top food exporter thanks to high crop yields and extensive agricultural infrastructure. Brazil is the world's fourth-largest food producer and second-largest importer; it is heavily dependent on imports by China.
Despite its domestic production, China has been a net importer [DOC] of agricultural products since 2004. Today, it imports more of these products—including soybeans, corn, wheat, rice, and dairy products—than any other country.
Australia has plentiful supplies of natural resources, including the second largest accessible reserves of iron ore in the world, the fifth largest reserves of coal and significant gas resources. For a long time, commodities have made up a sizeable share of our exports.
Individuals income tax. Individuals' income tax is the single most important source of government revenue. Since the mid 1970s it has consistently raised around half of the Australian Government's tax receipts and continues to be a stable and predictable source of revenue.
China was Australia's largest export destination, receiving 30.6 per cent of our total exports. A further 29.1 per cent of total exports went to Japan, the Republic of Korea, the United States and India, collectively.