10 Facts about Food Production and Consumption in Australia
Australian fresh food production is valued at more than $42 billion annually, and contributes many millions of export dollars to the Australian economy. Here’s 10 facts about Australian food production and consumption.
- 52% of Australia’s land mass is used for agriculture.
- In a trade valued at 4.4 billion dollars Japan imported the largest share of Australian foods in 2012-2013.
- Australia imports most of its food from New Zealand.
- In 2012-2013 the value of Australian food exports was $31 billion and imports was $11 billion.
- Only 0.5% of Australia’s agricultural land is irrigated.
- 65% of of Australian water was used by agriculture in 2012-2013.
- With a growth in popularity of 175%, Seafood was the highest growing food commodity in the 50 years between 1948 and 1998.
- Pigmeat saw a 500% increase in consumption rates in Australia in the 50 years between 1948 and 1998.
- Of Australia’s 9.5 billion litres of milk produced in 2012-2013, 33% of it was used to make cheese.
- As of 2012 – 2013, there were 111,000 farm businesses in Australia.
Data Sources:
Water Account Australia, 2012-2013
Australian Food Statistics 2012-2013
The World Bank data library