More than two thirds of Australia's total trade is with fellow APEC members says a new report published by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT). It lends credence to the fact that building closer multilateral trading bloc help in enhancing and investment performance. The report titled "The APEC Region - Trade and Investment" is part of a series published each year by DFAT on Australia's international trade in goods and services. The latest report highlights the importance of Australia's economic relationship with APEC nations.

Established in 1989, APEC stands as an acronym for Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation. It is a forum for 21 Pacific Rim countries who seeks to promote free trade and economic cooperation throughout the Asia-Pacific region.

The report finds APEC accounted for 45.1 per of total world exports and 56.0 per cent of world GDP in Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) terms in 2012.

With regard to Australia's trade, the DFAT report shows that APEC nations account for almost 57 per cent of Australia's investment abroad and nearly 45 per cent of foreign investment in Australia.

In 2012, Australia's total trade in goods and services with APEC grew by 1.4 per cent to $437.8 billion. Exports fell by 3 per cent to $231.6 billion while imports rose 6.8 per cent to $206.4 billion, the report finds. In terms of Australian investment in APEC member economies, the report finds that investment rose 7.3 per cent to $736.0 billion. On the other hand investment by APEC member economies in Australia rose 9.3 per cent to $970.6 billion.

Within the APEC bloc, Australia's major trading partners in 2012 were China ($125.1 billion), Japan ($71.1 billion) and the United States ($56.2 billion).

In terms of investment, the United States was both the largest investor in Australia ($617.6 billion or 63.6 per cent of all APEC member economies investment in Australia) and Australia's largest destination for investment abroad ($434.0 billion or 59.0 per cent of all Australian investment in APEC economies).

The report finds that as a whole, the value of the APEC region's exports to the world increased by 2.9 per cent to US$10.3 trillion in 2012, while APEC imports from the world increased by 4.5 per cent to US$10.8 trillion.

China was the largest exporter in from the APEC region, with exports to the world valued at just over US$2.2 trillion in 2012 (up 8.0 per cent). It was followed closely by the United States, valued at just under US$2.2 trillion, and Japan with exports of US$944 billion.

Much of APEC members' trade is with other APEC members. In 2012, 69.1 per cent of APEC members' merchandise exports and 68.5 per cent of imports were within the region, the report says.