South Australia’s exports have hit $13 billion for the first time in the state’s history – a new record for our state.
The latest ABS stats for the 12 months to July 2021 show South Australian goods exported overseas were up 19 per cent compared with the year to July 2020 – the highest year on year increase since January 2012.
“For the fourth month in a row South Australia’s exports have reached a new record high, which is a credit to South Australian exporters who are growing their businesses, creating jobs, and accelerating the growth of the South Australian economy,” Minister for Trade and Investment Stephen Patterson said.
“While we currently have more South Australians employed than ever before in our state’s history, the Marshall Liberal Government’s aim is to create even more jobs, and we know that by supporting our exporters to grow their businesses we’ll do exactly that.
“These figures show that the Marshall Liberal Government’s focus on exports in our key growth sectors is assisting the state’s economic recovery from the height of the pandemic, but there’s more work to do to support our export businesses to grow and create more jobs.
“That’s why we’re continuing our significant investments in a suite of export programs, like the $5.4 million Wine Export Recovery and Expansion Program, and the US Market Entry Program, helping SA wineries to grow their business by entering the lucrative United States market.
“The establishment of the Paris trade and investment office on mainland Europe also expands on the Marshall Government’s election commitment to grow South Australia’s overseas trade representation across the globe.
“We’re continuing to support our exporters and broader SME community, so that we can continue our strong economic recovery.”
Nationally, the value of overseas goods exports was up 9.1 per cent, while SA’s 19 per cent increase was second only to WA, up 27 per cent.
In recent months, the positive trends in SA exports have been driven by solid growth in wheat and barley, as well as the minerals sector.
“We’re backing South Australian businesses to grow their exports which ultimately grows jobs and the state’s economy,” Minister Patterson said.
