processing, chemicals, steel

Industrial production growth rate: 1.2% (1995)

Electricity-capacity: 38.83 million kW (1995)

Electricity-production: 163.082 billion kWh (1995)

Electricity-consumption per capita: 8,901 kWh (1995)

Agriculture-products: wheat, barley, sugarcane, fruits; cattle, sheep,
poultry

Exports:
total value: $68 billion (f.o.b., 1997 est.)
commodities: coal, gold, meat, wool, alumina, iron ore, wheat,
machinery and transport equipment
partners: Japan 20%, ASEAN 16%, South Korea 9%, US 9%, NZ 8%, UK,
Taiwan, Hong Kong, China (1997)

Imports:
total value: $67 billion (f.o.b., 1997 est.)
commodities: machinery and transport equipment, computers and office
machines, telecommunication equipment and parts; crude oil and
petroleum products
partners: US 22%, Japan 17%, UK 6%, China 5%, NZ 5% (1994/95)

Debt-external: $150 billion (December 1996)

Economic aid:
donor: ODA, $1.43 billion (FY97/98)

Currency: 1 Australian dollar ($A) = 100 cents

Exchange rates: Australian dollars ($A) per US$1-1.4865 (February
1998), (1.3439 (1997), 1.2773 (1996), 1.3486 (1995), 1.3668 (1994),
1.4704 (1993)

Fiscal year: 1 July-30 June

Communications

Telephones: 8.7 million (1987 est.)

Telephone system: excellent domestic and international service
domestic: domestic satellite system
international: submarine cables to New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, and
Indonesia; satellite earth stations-10 Intelsat (4 Indian Ocean and 6
Pacific Ocean), 2 Inmarsat (Indian and Pacific Ocean Regions)

Radio broadcast stations: AM 258, FM 67, shortwave 0

Radios: NA

Television broadcast stations: 134 (1987 est.)

Televisions: 9.2 million (1992 est.)

@Australia:Transportation

Railways:
total: 38,563 km (2,914 km electrified; 172 km dual gauge)
broad gauge: 6,083 km 1.600-m gauge
standard gauge: 16,752 km 1.435-m gauge
narrow gauge: 15,728 km 1.067-m gauge

Highways:
total: 913,000 km
paved: 353,331 km (including 1,3630 km of expressways)
unpaved: 559,669 km (1996 est.)

Waterways: 8,368 km; mainly by small, shallow-draft craft

Pipelines: crude oil 2,500 km; petroleum products 500 km; natural gas
5,600 km

Ports and harbors: Adelaide, Brisbane, Cairns, Darwin, Devonport
(Tasmania), Fremantle, Geelong, Hobart (Tasmania), Launceston
(Tasmania), Mackay, Melbourne, Sydney, Townsville

Merchant marine:
total: 64 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 2,122,604 GRT/3,045,417
DWT
ships by type: bulk 31, c