Japan is Western Australia’s second largest merchandise export market. Western Australia exported A$24.0 billion of goods to Japan in 2019, with the top exports being petroleum, iron ore and nickel ore. Japan is Western Australia’s largest export market for petroleum and second largest export market for iron ore and nickel ore. Western Australia has been supplying Japan with iron ore for more than 50 years and LNG for more than 30 years.
Japan is Western Australia’s third largest source of merchandise imports. Western Australia imported A$2.7 billion of goods from Japan in 2019, with the top imports being gold (further refined and re-exported), motor vehicles and rubber tyres.
Japan is Australia’s third largest source of foreign direct investment (A$116.1 billion in 2019) and is the seventeenth largest destination for Australia’s direct investment abroad (A$1.6 billion in 2019).
In 2019, Western Australia had 38,800 visitors and 1,177 students from Japan. For Western Australian tourists, Japan is the eighth most popular overseas destination, with 39,000 Western Australians visiting Japan in 2018.
Western Australia has a growing Japanese community. In 2016, 7,000 Western Australian residents had Japanese ancestry and 4,300 were born in Japan.
Western Australia has had a Sister-State Relationship with Japan’s Hyogo Prefecture since 1981 and has maintained an office in the prefecture capital, Kobe. Western Australia also has a Memorandum of Understanding with the Japan Bank of International Cooperation, to exchange information on potential investments in Western Australia.
The Department of Jobs, Tourism, Science and Innovation supports Western Australia’s investment and trade with Japan through its Offices in Tokyo (established in 1968) and Kobe (established in 1989).