Australia's trade surplus widened to $9.6b in August: ABS

The news: Australia recorded a $9.6 billion trade surplus in August, beating analyst forecasts by more than a billion dollars and widening significantly from July's figure.

The numbers: ABS data shows exports increased by 4%, or $2.1 billion, driven by non-monetary gold, while imports fell by 0.4% following a decline in incoming industrial transport equipment. In July Australia posted a $7.3 billion trade surplus.

The context: Trade balances have fallen below the $10 billion figure for the past three months, following surpluses of between $10 billion and $14.4 billion between January and May. Global growth has been slowing in recent months due to weakening demand, high interest rates and high inflation.