Australia’s economic data is released when?

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In Australia, key economic data is released throughout the year. By understanding Australia’s economic data calendar, you can be aware of when key data will drop and then incorporate that consistently into your responses.

I tell you this: the use of current (and correct) economic data is extremely important in allowing you to access higher marks in Eco exam situations.

The best source I’ve found for this is Trading Economics.

(If you’ve got trouble only getting Aussie info to appear, or if the timezones are out of whack, try this:  select the calendar tab, then countries and make sure only Australia is selected.)

Now you can see the pattern of how economic data is released in Australia. For example, in October 2021, on Tuesday 5 October we get some heavy hitting data:

  • Balance of trade (Balance on goods and services — the comparison between the value of exports and the value of imports)

  • Monthly change in exports and imports

  • Monthly retail sales data (extremely important as it is a vital part of consumption)

  • Reserve Bank of Australia’s (RBA) cash rate decision

A snippet of the eco data goodness being released in October 2021

A snippet of the eco data goodness being released in October 2021

Trading Economics shows you what the last result was (“previous”) and the “consensus” view which relates to the average of what economists think the result will be. 

You can also start to see the longer-term patterns of when data is released. For example, on 28 October, we get the latest read on inflation data. You can see that it is QoQ (quarter on quarter) and YoY (year on year). And you can see that the previous yearly rate was 3.8% (with a forecast of 2.8%) while the last quarterly rate was 0.8% (with a forecast of 0.7%). The forecasts are done by Trading Economics, while the consensus comes from market economists.

You can also see that on the same day we get the RBA’s own measures of inflation — trimmed mean and weighted mean. This helps the RBA develop its core measures of inflation, which strip out one-off changes and help to give the underlying trend in prices. 

One practical way to use this info is to list the key dates in your calendar so you’re reminded when the last eco data releases.