Media Release Trade-weighted Index

The new weights for the trade-weighted index (TWI) of the Australian dollar have been compiled and are reported in the table below. These weights, which reflect the composition of Australia's two-way merchandise trade in 2006/07, will apply from 2 October 2007.

Weights in the Trade-weighted Index

Per cent

Currency	Trade Weight
	Current	Previous
Japanese yen	15.4860	16.3340
Chinese renminbi	15.4486	13.9352
European euro	12.1703	12.2018
United States dollar	10.7432	10.9806
South Korean won	5.9057	6.1429
New Zealand dollar	4.6553	4.7979
Singapore dollar	4.5637	4.9791
United Kingdom pound sterling	4.1943	4.6430
Thai baht	3.5465	3.2464
Indian rupee	3.5320	2.9113
New Taiwan dollar	3.2771	3.2791
Malaysian ringgit	2.9989	3.1347
Indonesian rupiah	2.7489	2.8814
Vietnamese dong	1.9032	1.7125
Hong Kong dollar	1.3785	1.5360
United Arab Emirates dirham	1.2801	0.7788
Canadian dollar	1.1892	1.2458
Papua New Guinea kina	1.1564	1.2532
South African rand	1.1496	1.2920
Swiss franc	0.9401	0.6192
Saudi Arabian riyal	0.9166	1.1446
Swedish krona	0.8158	0.9505

The weight of the Japanese yen remains the highest in the index, despite declining by ¾ percentage point from last year. The Chinese renminbi weight increased by 1½ percentage points from last year and is ranked second, having risen by 9 percentage points since 2000. The US dollar weight declined by ¼ percentage point from last year while the European euro remained broadly unchanged.

The combined weight of the Asian-Pacific currencies excluding Japan increased by 1¼ percentage points from last year to 51 per cent, reflecting continued growth in Australia's merchandise trade with the region. The combined weights of European currencies and North American currencies both fell by ¼ percentage point.