PESTEL analysis of Australia, including SWOT analysis Assignment

PESTEL analysis of Australia, including SWOT analysis - Assignment Example The serene political environments, diverse cultures and a techno-savvy population only make the business environment better. The aforementioned political, economical, environmental, cultural and legal environments have made Australia one of the best markets in the world. This paper tries to identify the unique characteristics of Australia that enables it to have an excellent international marketing environment. It goes ahead to list the strengths, weaknesses, threats and opportunities for the various environments that influence international marketing in Australia. Table of Contents 1.0 Introduction 4 2.0 International Marketing Environment in Australia 5 2.1 The Economic and Financial Environment 5 2.2 The Political and Legal Environment 8 2.3 The Social and Cultural Environment 9 2.4 Technological Environment 9 2.5 Challenges and Opportunities 10 3.0 Conclusion 11 4.0 References 12 PESTEL Analysis of Australia 1.0 Introduction Australia boasts one of the most efficient capitalist e conomies in the world. In 2012 the Australian economy was ranked the 13th largest in terms of GDP, contributing over 1.7% of the world’s GDP for that period. Presently, the economy’s GDP stands at US $1.58 trillion with a total wealth of over US $6.4 trillion (DFAT, 2013). One of the main reasons for this startling performance is because of the freedom in the market. The Australian governments that have been in power since early 1980s have continuously liberalized the market. This has attracted more investors and as a result the Australian economy has largely been growing even when other countries were experiencing recession. In 2011 the Australian economy was found to be the third freest economy in the world with an index of 82.6. Due to this freedom the economy is favorable for entrepreneurs’ development. It boasts the largest number of entrepreneurs in the world, both internal and external (Jacka and Scott, 2013). The Australian economy is built on exports. A ccording to the survey conducted by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Australia is the 19th largest exporter and importer. Most of what is exported is from the mining sector followed by the agricultural sector. Mining has been the major contributor to the Australian GDP, nearly 10% of the GDP (DFAT, 2013). Australia mining sector produces exports natural gas, iron ore, petroleum and gold. The agricultural sector on the other hand produces mainly foodstuffs and wool and cotton. Apart from these the economy also exports service especially technology-based expertise and skills. The Australian economy is ranked the second in terms of the average wealth of individual adults. A study conducted in 2011 by Credit Suisse Research Institute placed Australia behind Switzerland and established that the average Australian has a wealth of US $397,000. It also placed Australia second in terms of the highest per capita income The economy also has an average GDP growth of 3.4% annually with 3.2 % in 2011 and 3.8% in 2012 (Richardson, 2013). However, during the same period the poverty level increased by 1.6% from 10.2% to 11.8%. This has made the economy to be termed as a ‘two-speed’ economy. The inflation rate averaged at 2.5% since the turn of the millennium and the unemployment rate stood at 5.8%, the fourth lowest unemployment rate in the world according to the