Forecasts and Facts: The growing interconnectedness between Australia and Asia
- On current rates of growth, China will be Australia’s largest trading partner by 2010, surpassing both Japan and the United States.
- China, India and Japan will join the United States as the world’s four biggest economies by 2020. If China grows, as predicted, to be the world’s largest economy by 2050, Australian children starting school today will be at the peak of their working lives when this occurs.
- In 1950 the top ten Asian nations took a combined total of just over 9 per cent of our exports and provided less than 15 per cent of our imports. By 2000 the top ten Asian nations took almost 55 per cent of our exports and provided almost 40 per cent of our imports.
- The top ten source countries for overseas student enrolments in Australian education institutions are all Asian nations, which provide almost three-quarters of our overseas students.
- By the year 2013, Tourism Australia anticipates that visitors from Asia will make up almost 50 per cent of our inbound tourism.
- Australia has security agreements with Malaysia and Singapore through the Five Power Defence Arrangements, and has bilateral security or defence dialogues with China, Indonesia, Japan, Vietnam, the Philippines, Thailand and India.
- Australia has established bilateral agreements on counter-terrorism with eight Asian nations.
- Some 23 per cent of Australians were born overseas and about 5 per cent in Asia.
- More than 800,000 Australians speak an Asian language at home.
- The kinds of restaurants, films, literature and sports favoured by Australians have shifted, and the multicultural and cosmopolitan flavour of contemporary Australia is strongly influenced by Asia.
- About half of Australia’s schools have a significant program of studies of Asia and Australia.
