Weights for the TWI

New weights for the trade-weighted index (TWI) of the Australian dollar will apply from 3 December 2012. The weights are based on the country composition of Australia's merchandise goods and services trade for the 2011/12 financial year. The new index includes the same 21 currencies as the previous index, with the regions associated with these currencies accounting for just over 90 per cent of trade in 2011/12. The Chinese renminbi and Japanese yen remain the first and second-ranked currencies in the index, with increases in both their weights. The weight on the US dollar has also increased, and it replaces the euro as the third-ranked currency in the index. Overall, changes in the weights in this update have generally been smaller than in recent years. See ‘TWI – Method of Calculation’ for a description of the methodology used for constructing the TWI.

Weights in the Trade-weighted Index
Per cent
Weight
Currency From 3 December 2012
1 December 2011 –
30 November 2012
Chinese renminbi 23.5501 22.5803
Japanese yen 13.9465 13.5025
United States dollar 9.8560 9.5351
European euro 9.5477 9.6731
South Korean won 6.1243 6.3500
Singapore dollar 5.2925 4.6714
United Kingdom pound sterling 4.3878 4.2808
New Zealand dollar 4.0058 4.2091
Indian rupee 3.3812 4.1947
Thai baht 3.2634 3.8040
Malaysian ringgit 3.1701 3.1463
Indonesian rupiah 2.7546 2.7554
New Taiwan dollar 2.4516 2.6874
Hong Kong dollar 1.4068 1.6188
Papua New Guinea kina 1.3238 1.3897
Vietnamese dong 1.2075 1.2197
United Arab Emirates dirham 1.0960 1.0614
Swiss franc 1.0461 1.0434
Canadian dollar 0.9707 0.9386
South African rand 0.6176 0.6818
Swedish krona 0.5999 0.6565

Sources: ABS; RBA