Due in part to a surge in goods exports to the US, Australia's trade surplus in January reached a seasonally adjusted A$5.62 billion, up from A$4.92 billion in December, reported the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) on Thursday.

"Australian exports to the US surged sharply, boosted by the front-loading of goods imports in the US ahead of the increase in tariffs," said Westpac IQ, an arm of the Australian banking giant.

Shipments to other major trading partners in January, including in Asia, "saw significantly lower flows of Australian exports," added Westpac IQ.

In January, Australia's total exports struck A$44.93 billion while imports logged at A$38.91 billion. The resulting trade surplus of A$5.62 billion was about "average" for the last year, noted Westpac IQ.

In general, Australia has run monthly goods international trade goods surpluses since 2018, with the size of positive balances swelling during the pandemic years, but easing back to pre-pandemic ranges in 2024 and 2025, according to ABS figures.

China, Japan, India, South Korea and the US are Australia's largest export markets, according to the ABS.

Australia in January exported a large amount of non-monetary gold to the US, reported Mining.com, an Australia-based resource-industry news service.

Gold sales to the US reached A$1.17 billion, "followed by an even more staggering A$4.62 billion in January 2025," reported Mining.com.