Western Australia

Western Australia is Australia's largest state, covering the western most third of the mainland, bordering South Australia and the Northern Territory. It is, after Sakha in Russia, the second largest subnational entity in the world.

Economy

Western Australia's economy has been largely based on the extraction and export of mining and petroleum commodities, especially iron ore, alumina, natural gas, nickel and gold. Western Australia is a leading alumina extractor, producing more than 20% of the world's aluminium. It is also the world's third-largest iron ore producer, producing around 15% of the world's total iron ore output. Western Australia also extracts up to 75% of Australia's 240 tonnes of gold.

Related Topics:
Iron ore - Alumina - Natural gas - Nickel - Gold - Aluminium

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Western Australia's economy recently has benefited from an unprecedented amount of foreign demand for resources, particularly from China. The Chinese have outgrown their own country's resource base and have turned to importing large quantities of foreign resources. One of the primary beneficiaries has been Western Australia, with GSP growth of 7.5% for the 2003/04 financial year, which makes it the fastest growing Australian state and allows it to have the lowest unemployment rate as well.

Related Topics:
China - GSP - Financial year

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Agricultural exports are also important, especially wheat, barley and sheep products such as wool and meat. In recent years, tourism has grown in importance, with the majority of visitors coming from the United Kingdom and Ireland, Singapore, Japan and Malaysia.

Related Topics:
Wheat - Barley - Sheep - Wool - Tourism - United Kingdom - Ireland - Singapore - Japan - Malaysia

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