Australia’s Top 100 Imported Consumer Products

In 2021, Australia’s top 100 imported consumer products for attracting the most spending totaled US$142.7 billion. That dollar amount represents 57.3% of the overall value of all Australian imported goods ($248.3 billion).

The 5 most valuable consumer products imported into Australia during 2021 were processed petroleum oils, cars, mobile phones, trucks and computers.

Year over year, the total dollar amount for Australia’s top 100 imported consumer products rose by 23.4% from $115.6 billion in 2020. That percentage shades the 23% upturn for all Australian imported goods for the year.

Australia’s purchases of imported products–both overall and consumer–underperformed the global average upturn of 26.5% from 2020 to 2021 incorporating all importing countries.

Among the top 100 consumer products imported by Australia, 56 increased in total sales from 2020 to 2021 whereas 44 declined.

Changes in Australian consumer demand for essential imports offer future opportunities for international suppliers who correctly anticipate which upward or downward trends will continue.

Consumer Products Defined

Economics educator BoyceWire defines a consumer product as a final good or end product that a business creates for consumers to buy. For example, consumers often purchase refined petroleum oil at the gas station while imported crude oil is an intermediate good subject to further processing before being sold to end users.

Although there may be a few wealthy individual buyers, products like turbojets are excluded from the consumer products targeted by this study. That is because turbojets are usually purchased by corporations. In contrast, it is common for a consumer to buy a motorcycle, car or truck.

Types of Consumer Products

This article focuses on 3 distinct consumer product types.

Convenience Products are easy to access, non-durable, have relatively lower prices and therefore consumers frequently purchase them. Examples of convenience products are food, alcoholic or non-alcoholic drinks, and soap.

Shopping Products are not as easily available, involve more time to make a buying decision, are durable and are not bought as often as most convenience products. A great example of a shopping product is a mobile phone where buying the wrong model is a much more expensive mistake than buying a disappointing loaf of bread.

Specialty Products describe another consumer product type. This grey area includes infrequently purchased, expensive, durable and sometimes rare items. Consumers may consider the product’s brand image when making their purchase decisions. Some examples of speciality products are gold, silver, diamonds, jewelry, and branded refrigerators and dishwashers.

Australian Consumer Imports Smart List

The searchable marketing intelligence table below showcases Australia’s 100 highest-value imported consumer products in descending order. Items were selected at the four-digit Harmonized System tariff classification code level.

The table’s fourth column is labeled YOY for year over year. The fifth column identifies each entry’s consumer product type.

#Imported ProductUS$YOY
1Processed petroleum oils$19,064,213,000+67.2%CP
2Cars$17,566,302,000+36.7%SP
3Phone devices including smartphones$9,098,021,000+16.2%SP
4Trucks$8,794,183,000+50%SP
5Computers, optical readers$8,208,839,000+14.6%SP
6Medications$5,591,840,000+0.3%CP
7Gold (unwrought)$4,893,071,000-22.8%SY
8Automobile parts/accessories$2,438,795,000+33.1%SP
9Rubber tires (new)$2,371,712,000+17.6%SP
10Miscellaneous furniture$2,070,073,000+19.7%SP
11Miscellaneous food preparations$1,627,311,000+11.9%CP
12Orthopedic appliances$1,608,333,000+17.4%SP
13Seats (not barber/dentist chairs)$1,608,220,000+20.3%SP
14Insulated wire/cable$1,512,193,000+35.9%SP
15Electrical converters/power units$1,453,543,000+14.7%SP
16Miscellaneous toys$1,338,554,000+20.3%SP
17Nitrogenous fertilizers$1,316,065,000+73.5%SY
18Refrigerators, freezers$1,283,586,000+18.7%SY
19Tractors$1,268,588,000+46%SP
20Women's clothing (not knit/crochet)$1,261,916,000+32.4%SP
21Jewelry$1,252,213,000+39.3%SY
22Electric water heaters, hair dryers$1,238,073,000+13.8%SY
23Electric storage batteries$1,228,209,000+54.2%SY
24Cases, handbags, wallets$1,223,847,000+18.5%SP
25Air conditioners$1,214,644,000+17.8%SY
26Packaged insecticides, herbicides$1,212,346,000+13.5%SP
27Miscellaneous plastic items$1,189,430,000+2.6%CP
28Microphones/headphones/amps$1,139,852,000+10.5%SP
29Plastic packing goods, lids, caps$1,047,696,000+8.2%CP
30Sports equipment$999,450,000+36%SP
31Liquid pumps$980,696,000+15.4%SY
32Printing machinery$892,541,000+20.4%SP
33Trailers$891,699,000+62.2%SP
34Fertilizer mixes$889,530,000+78.6%SY
35Beauty/makeup/skin care$883,136,000+12%SY
36Miscellaneous iron or steel items$865,608,000+20%SP
37Jerseys, pullovers (knit or crochet)$839,373,000+36.4%SP
38Footwear (leather)$801,913,000+23.7%SP
39Bread, biscuits, cakes, pastries$799,535,000+11.3%CP
40Lower-voltage switches, fuses$797,366,000+18.1%SP
41Motorcycles$787,649,000+70.6%SP
42T-shirts, vests (knit or crochet)$774,698,000+23.1%SP
43Video console games, table games$743,813,000+12.4%SP
44Wine $728,231,000+21.3%CP
45Temperature-change machines$716,541,000+18.4%SY
46Electric motors, not generating sets$691,524,000-16%SY
47Linens$688,072,000+22.6%SP
48Household base metal mountings$674,345,000+25.7%SY
49Computer parts, accessories$664,569,000+30.4%SP
50Alcohol (including spirits, liqueurs)$661,620,000+11.7%CP
51Screws, bolts, washers, hooks, pins$654,822,000+22.7%SP
52Men's suits (unknit/non-crochet)$654,088,000+26.1%SP
53Dishwash, clean/dry/fill machines $652,627,000+23.4%SY
54Miscellaneous textile items$604,361,000-63.4%SP
55Footwear (textile)$590,314,000+21.3%SP
56Women's clothing (knit or crochet)$577,002,000+39.4%SP
57Plastic wares (table, kitchen, toiletry)$573,748,000+17.6%CP
58Mattresses, quilts$569,928,000+9.3%SP
59Silver (unwrought)$560,274,000-15.8%SY
60Cheese, curd$536,693,000+5.9%CP
61Swine meat$526,168,000+10.8%CP
62Yachts, canoes, row boats$525,316,000+88.2%SP
63Unrecorded sound media$524,075,000+7.8%SP
64Diamonds (unmounted/unset)$515,110,000+40.5%SY
65Coffee$510,430,000+7.8%CP
66Other organic cleaning preparations$481,179,000+7.7%CP
67Chocolate, other cocoa preparations$468,907,000+6.5%CP
68Vacuum cleaners$465,242,000+6.2%SY
69Sauces, condiments, seasoning$438,210,000+1.7%CP
70Electric generating sets, converters$421,119,000+3.3%SY
71Fish, caviar (preserved/prepared)$415,688,000+0.1%CP
72Vulcanized rubber items$404,104,000+12.7%SP
73Cigars/cigarellos, cigarettes$401,586,000-13.2%CP
74Iron/steel stoves, barbecues$383,449,000+42.6%SY
75Sanitary towels, baby napkins/liners$375,470,000+4.9%CP
76Vulcanized rubber apparel$373,674,000+45.1%SP
77Waters with added sugar$373,295,000+38.3%CP
78Spectacles, goggles$372,740,000+0.7%SY
79Paper containers, cellulose wadding$370,570,000+21.4%SP
80Perfumes, toilet waters$362,742,000+18.2%CP
81Special hand/machine tools$360,657,000+24.6%SY
82Compasses, other navigational aids$358,089,000+42.9%SY
83Footwear (rubber or plastic)$349,208,000+33.7%SP
84Printed books, brochures$342,852,000+13.9%SP
85Miscellaneous aluminum items$324,977,000+31.4%SP
86Hair preparations$309,583,000+14.1%SP
87Iron/steel tables, household items$307,149,000+43%SP
88Washing machines$305,040,000-3.3%SY
89Other pharmaceutical goods$304,564,000+11.6%SP
90Plastic tile or roll coverings$302,750,000+24.6%SP
91Wrist/pocket watches (regular case)$293,902,000+43.6%SP
92Wrist/pocket watches (precious case)$289,048,000+39.4%SP
93Women's underwear (knit/crochet)$286,028,000+28.9%SP
94Fish fillets, pieces$281,844,000+9.8%CP
95Soap, organic surface-active goods$280,661,000-22.9%SP
96Bicycles, other non-motorized cycles$279,822,000+21.3%SP
97Electromechanic appliances$276,766,000+15.8%SY
98Men's shirts (not knit or crochet)$274,034,000+24.4%SP
99Pasta, couscous$273,020,000-9.9%CP
100Miscellaneous preserved fruits$272,975,000+5.5%CP

You can peruse the greatest increases or decreases in product values from 2020 to 2021. To do so, click on the heading of the fourth column.

Australia’s most popular product type is shopping products (SD) led by cars, mobile phones, trucks, computers, automobile parts or accessories then new rubber tires. Shopping products represent just over half (53) of Australia’s top 100 imported consumer goods.

In second place via 23 entries are convenience products (CP) led by processed petroleum oils, medication mixes in dosage, miscellaneous food preparations, miscellaneous items made from plastic, and wine.

Speciality products (SY) have 24 entries on the top 100 list. Examples of speciality products are Australian imports of gold, jewelry and silver.

Durable consumer products are goods like cars, refrigerators and furniture that last a relatively long time. Consumers can put durable products to use again and again. By product type, note that all shopping products and speciality products are considered as durable consumer products.

Non-durable consumer products (ND) are goods that are not re-used once consumed. Alcoholic beverages and bananas are examples of non-durable goods. Convenience products are uniquely non-durable consumer products.

Based on the product types identified in the above table, 77 of Australia’s highest-value consumer imported products are durable while 23 are classified as non-durable items that are used one time only.

Fastest-Growing Consumer Imports

Listed below are the top 10 consumer products imported into Australia that experienced the highest percentage increases in spending from 2020 to 2021.

  1. Yachts, canoes, row boats: Up 88.2% ($525.3 million)
  2. Fertilizer mixes: Up 78.6% ($889.5 million)
  3. Nitrogenous fertilizers: Up 73.5% ($1.3 billion)
  4. Motorcycles: Up 70.6% ($787.6 million)
  5. Processed petroleum oils: Up 67.2% ($19.1 billion)
  6. Trailers: Up 62.2% ($891.7 million)
  7. Electric storage batteries: Up 54.2% ($1.2 billion)
  8. Trucks: Up 50% ($8.8 billion)
  9. Tractors: Up 46% ($1.3 billion)
  10. Vulcanized rubber clothing & accessories: Up 45.1% ($373.7 million)

Among the above top gainers, 9 items are durable goods that consumers can re-use over time.

The only exception is what is considered a convenience product, specifically processed petroleum oils. Consumers typically consider these items as non-durable products commonly referred to as disposable goods and therefore are used only once.

Drilling down, 6 of the durable items are shopping products that require a comparatively longer time to make a buying decision, while 3 top gainers are periodically purchased speciality items namely fertilizer mixes, nitrogenous fertilizers. and electric storage batteries.

Worst-Declining Consumer Imports

Australia’s spending on the following items decreased at the greatest pace from 2020 to 2021.

  1. Miscellaneous textile items: Down -63.4% ($604.4 million)
  2. Soap, organic surface-active goods: Down -22.9% ($280.7 million)
  3. Gold (unwrought): Down -22.8% ($4.9 billion)
  4. Electric motors, not generating sets: Down -16% ($691.5 million)
  5. Silver (unwrought): Down -15.8% ($560.3 million)
  6. Cigars/cigarellos, cigarettes: Down -13.2% ($401.6 million)
  7. Pasta, couscous: Down -9.9% ($273 million)
  8. Washing machines: Down -3.3% ($305 million)

Two among the Australia’s top declining imports are non-durable convenience products consumed one time only, namely the cigars, cigarellos and cigarettes product category as well as pasta and couscous.

Gold, electric motors excluding generating sets, silver, and branded washing machines are 4 speciality products made the list of leading losers.

The remaining 2 import decliners are shopping products that normally require more time for shoppers to make buying decisions, specifically miscellaneous textile items and soap or surface-active goods. Note that purchases under the shopping products category are more likely to be deferred than convenience products.

Key Suppliers by Country

This analysis reveals competitive suppliers that target Australia’s demand for its top 5 consumer import products.

Australia’s biggest imported consumer product by value is processed petroleum oils. Australia’s 4 other leading consumer imports are cars, mobile phones, computers, and gold.

Below, you will find major supplying countries for the following Australian imports.

Refined petroleum oils: Singapore (33% of total), South Korea (17.2%), Malaysia (15%), India (11.3%), mainland China (6.1%), Japan (5.1%), Brunei Darussalam (also 5.1%), Taiwan (4.7%), United Arab Emirates (0.6%), and the Netherlands (also 0.6%).

Cars: Japan (40.2% of total), South Korea (13%), mainland China (8%), Germany (7.9%), United States (7.8%), Thailand (6.9%), United Kingdom (2.7%), Mexico (2.4%), Slovakia (1.5%), and Hungary (also 1.5%).

Mobile phones: mainland China (57.6% of total), Vietnam (12%), Netherlands (10.4%), United States (4.6%), Taiwan (3.1%), Malaysia (2.6%), Mexico (1.8%), Thailand (1.3%), Singapore (0.7%), and Hong Kong (0.6%).

Trucks: Thailand (49.6% of total), Japan (21.2%), United States (8.3%), mainland China (4.5%), Argentina (2%), Mexico (also 2%), France (1.7%), South Korea (1.2%), Germany (also 1.2%), and Sweden (1.1%).

Computers: mainland China (73.9% of total), Malaysia (5%), Singapore (4.8%), United States (4.5%), Taiwan (2.3%), Thailand (1.8%), Mexico (1.6%), Vietnam (0.9%), Germany (0.8%), and Ireland (0.6%).

See also

More great research: Australia’s Main Imports by Top Supplier Countries, World’s Top 100 Imported Consumer Products, US Top 100 Imported Consumer Products, China’s Top 100 Imported Consumer Products

References

Independent insights and analysis presented in this article are based on researched facts and statistics sourced from the following educational portals.

BoyceWire, Consumer Goods Definition.

Central Intelligence Agency, The World Factbook: Australia Economy.

International Trade Centre, Trade Map.

Investopedia, Consumer Goods, Consumer Staples Definition, Fast-Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG).

Trading Economics, Australia Consumer Spending.

Wikipedia, List of largest consumer markets.

World’s Top Exports, Australia’s Top 10 Imports.

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