Why does Australia have a current account surplus?

So I received a viewer request asking why Australia has a current account surplus. And I thought, what a great question. So I set out to answer it.

In this video I provide a quick fire explanation as to why Australia, as of September 2021, has a current account surplus.

Hint: the current account surplus is largely due to the trade surplus (Balance on Goods and Services surplus).

You can see the article I reference (along with the great graph) here:

You can also see my video discussing the current account. This is a great intro video to the topic:

[justindrew]

What about current account looking back as far as the 80’s, Paul Keating pegs the current accounts then as a big reason to introduce universal super? - what effect has super had if any on net income over those years?

[josephmastroianni]

helped me with my assignment, thanks heaps mate

[riprider]

I feel like this might be an oversimplification in saying that it is ‘straight forward’. Between 2003-2008 we experienced the most lucrative mining boom. Yet, no surplus or remote level of turn around?

I feel that it is telling that 2019 was the year that Covid presented and this surplus is reactionary to that. Where households be I’m more wary of spending.

[jackcraig]

Hi there just wondering if you could do a video on the international organisations that are in the syllabus e.g IMF, WB, UN etc