SWOT analysis of Australia

SWOT analysis of Australia

This detailed SWOT analysis of Australia provides readers with insights into the strengths and the weaknesses of Australia. It also examines the opportunities the country should explore and the threats it should keep close eyes on. Australia is one of the largest countries in the world by total area. It is officially known as the Commonwealth of Australia.

Strengths of Australia

Australia is a developed and prosperous country. It maintains a close association with the USA, Asia, and the Pacific. It is also a member of some of the top institutions in the world e.g. the Commonwealth of nations, WTO, and OECD. It is one of the founding members of the United Nations that ratified the UN charter in 1945.

Australia is an affluent country. It is one of the largest countries in the world by nominal GDP. Its GDP in 2019 was worth 1392.70 billion US dollars (Trading Economics, 2020). It has a low rate of poverty and maintains close economic relations with neighbouring New Zealand, China, Japan, South Korea, and many others.

Australia is world renowned for higher education. The Australian National University, the University of Melbourne, the University of Sydney, the University of New South Wales, the University of Queensland, Monash University, the University of Western Australia are some of the best universities in the world (QS Quacquarelli Symonds, 2020). Australia is also world’s one of the best in terms of health, relaxed lifestyle, quality of life, and technology.

Australia is one of the most multi-cultural countries in the world. It shows the tolerant and open-minded nature of the country. In fact, one of every two Australians is an immigrant, or the child of an immigrant. Skilled migrants add to the country’s wealth and do not live on welfare (Hutchens, 2018).

Australia’s scenic beauty mesmerises anyone looking for tranquillity in nature. Its natural landscape, beaches, forests, mountains, ancient limestone pillars, the Great Barrier Reef, Red centre, Kangaroo island and many other natural and man-made attractions make it shine brilliantly!

Weaknesses of Australia

Life in Australia comes with a high price tag as it is an expensive country to live in.  Housing costs in cities such as Melbourne and Sydney are extremely high. Likewise, the costs of food items (e.g. 2 litres of orange juice: $4.80, 1 kg of carrots: $2.50, 6 free-range eggs: $3) show that people need to spend a lot of money to maintain a basic minimal lifestyle. However, it is worth noting that life outside Melbourne and Sydney is usually affordable.

Gender pay gap is a big problem in Australia. According to Barraclough (2020) women working full-time earn on average $253.60 less per week than their male counterparts. This is a loss of over $1000 per month just because of gender!

Australia is falling behind its global counterparts on productivity growth. Moreover, homelessness is also a big challenge. Almost 1 in 200 people in Australia spend every night without a safe place to sleep. Young people represent one third of the country’s homeless population.

Opportunities for Australia

Agriculture, mining, manufacturing, and services are the key drivers of Australia’s economy. Though some of these industries have received less investment in recent decades, they still have many opportunities to grow both domestically and internationally.

10% of Australia’s export and 12% of imports are with and from ASEAN countries with more growth prospects on the horizon. Over 1.4 million annual visits are made from these countries to Australia which are likely to increase in coming years offering a great opportunity for tourism and hospitality companies. Likewise, trades with China, Taiwan, Japan, and the Republic of Korea offer opportunities for growth in many different areas.

Threats to Australia  

There are many competitors that challenge Australia in many different fields. For instance, the USA, China, Brazil, Argentina, India, and Russia are some of the major competitors of Australia in agriculture. Likewise, its mining industry competes with that of countries such as the USA, China, Russia, Canada, and Indonesia.

Australia like most other nations, is not immune from cyber-attacks (Blaxland, 2019). Likewise, religious, socially, and politically motivated disturbances found in many Southeast Asian countries, many affect it as well. The prospect of a breakdown of relations with Indonesia is another major concern for the country. Indonesia shares a common maritime border with Australia. It is the third largest democracy in the world and has around ten times of Australia’s population.

We hope you like the article ‘SWOT analysis of Australia’. You may also like reading PESTEL analysis of Australia and SWOT analysis of the UK. Other relevant articles for you are:

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Last update: 03 September 2020

References:

Barraclough, E. (2020) Equal Pay Day: Wage crisis is catastrophic for Australian women, available at: https://www.news.com.au/finance/work/at-work/equal-pay-day-wage-crisis-is-catastrophic-for-australian-women/news-story/5d786b72412e66a967b5c3fc62caf456 (accessed 01 September 2020)

Blaxland, J. (2019) A Geostrategic SWOT Analysis for Australia, available at: http://sdsc.bellschool.anu.edu.au/sites/default/files/publications/attachments/2019-06/cog_49_swot_analysis_web.pdf (accessed 30 August 2020)

Hutchens, G. (2018) Migrants add to Australia’s wealth, government report finds, available at: https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2018/apr/17/migrants-add-to-australias-wealth-government-report-finds (accessed 31 August 2020)

Trading Economics (2020) Australia GDP, available at: https://tradingeconomics.com/australia/gdp (accessed 01 September 2020)

QS Quacquarelli Symonds (2020) QS World University Rankings 2020, available at: https://www.topuniversities.com/university-rankings/world-university-rankings/2020 (accessed 01 September 2020)

Author: Joe David

Joe David has years of teaching experience both in the UK and abroad. He writes regularly online on a variety of topics. He has a keen interest in business, hospitality, and tourism management. He holds a Postgraduate Diploma in Management Studies and a Post Graduate Diploma in Marketing Management.