Weights for the TWI

The Australian dollar trade-weighted index (TWI) is the price of the Australian dollar in terms of a group (or ‘basket’) of foreign currencies based on their share of trade with Australia. While bilateral exchange rates are the most frequently quoted exchange rates, the TWI provides a broader measure of whether the Australian dollar is appreciating or depreciating against the currencies of its trading partners.

New weights for the trade-weighted index (TWI) of the Australian dollar will apply from 7 July 2022. The weights are based on the composition of Australia's merchandise goods and services trade for the 2020/21 financial year.[1] The updated index includes a group of 17 foreign currencies. This is one less than in the previous index; the Papua New Guinea kina is not included in the TWI this year based on the method of calculation. The Chinese renminbi continues to have the largest weight in the TWI, and its weight has increased by 4 percentage points in the updated index. Other changes in individual currency weights were mostly within +/- 1 percentage point. For further details regarding the methodology used for constructing the index, please see ‘TWI – Method of Calculation’.

Weights in the Trade-weighted Index
Per cent
Weight
Currency From 7 July 2022 1 December 2020 – 6 July 2022
Chinese renminbi 36.6888 32.7625
European euro 9.3385 8.9663
United States dollar 9.2730 10.3811
Japanese yen 9.0496 10.2169
South Korean won 5.3194 4.9698
United Kingdom pound sterling 3.9834 4.7822
Singapore dollar 3.9056 4.0493
Indian rupee 3.7366 3.4223
New Zealand dollar 3.2189 3.7333
Malaysian ringgit 2.9117 2.8125
Thai baht 2.8839 2.8176
New Taiwan dollar 2.3195 2.4292
Vietnamese dong 2.1748 1.9916
Indonesian rupiah 1.8450 2.0407
Hong Kong dollar 1.5415 1.7064
Swiss franc 1.0312 0.9811
Canadian dollar 0.7786 1.0099
Papua New Guinea kina 0.9273

Sources: ABS; RBA

Endnote

The 2021 weights for the Australian dollar TWI are being published in mid-2022 because the publication of data on the composition of Australia's services trade for 2020/21 was delayed. [1]