Australia PMI: what the S&P Global surveys show and how they move the Aussie

The Australia PMI is a set of monthly business surveys by S&P Global, one of about 400 manufacturers and one of about 400 service companies, that show whether activity is growing or shrinking. It comes out before the official data for the same month. The flash figures can move the Aussie when they change the picture of growth or prices.

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By Mike. Explanation updated 2 Oct 2026; the dates and moves below update with the research.

Australia PMI in short

Next release: Not on our calendar yet. It appears once the date is confirmed.
Published by: S&P Global
When: Three releases a month, all at 9:00 in the morning Sydney time: the flash figures late in the month, the final manufacturing PMI on the first working day of the next month and the final services PMI on the third. In Amsterdam that is 01:00 for most of the European summer and 23:00 the evening before in the European winter. In October, and for about a week around the start of April, both countries are on summer time and it is midnight.
Currency: Australian dollar (AUD)
Impact: Medium: it moves the currency when it surprises
The line read first: The flash composite output index, then the manufacturing PMI and the services business activity index
How to read it: Above 50 means more firms report a rise than a fall on the month; below 50 the opposite
Panel: About 400 manufacturers and 400 service providers, surveyed in the second half of the month
Flash: Based on around 80 to 90% of the responses, about a week before the final figures

What is in the Australia PMI

Purchasing managers say whether output, new orders, employment, prices and more are higher, the same or lower than a month earlier. Each answer becomes a diffusion index: the share that says higher plus half the share that says unchanged.

The manufacturing PMI is a weighted mix of five indexes: new orders 30%, output 25%, employment 20%, suppliers' delivery times 15% and stocks of purchases 10%. The services figure is the business activity index, built from one question about the volume of activity.

The composite output index combines manufacturing output and services activity, weighted by the size of each sector. Services here means consumer services outside retail, transport, information, communication, finance, insurance, real estate and business services.

Why the Australia PMI moves the Australian dollar

The flash comes before the month ends, and the final figures within days after. That makes the PMI the first read on growth, weeks before the ABS figures for the same month.

The price questions matter as well. Input costs and the prices firms charge give an early sign of where inflation is heading, and inflation is what the RBA steers on.

How to read the Australia PMI against the forecast

The flash carries most of the surprise, because the final figures rarely differ much from it. S&P Global puts the average absolute gap between flash and final headline readings at around half a point or less.

Read the level and the direction together. A reading that drops but stays above 50 still means growth, only from fewer firms.

The composite is weighted by the size of each sector, and services are the larger part. A surprise in services usually counts for more than one in manufacturing.

What the Australian dollar did on the last release days

Our calendar keeps the exact time of each release since 16 September 2026. The first Australia PMI after that date will show here with the Australian dollar's move around it.

For scale: on an ordinary day the Australian dollar moves 0.22% against the basket from one London opening to the next, either way, on average over the 250 trading days since 14 Oct 2025.

The forecast, the figure itself and what it changed in our view of the currency are in the app, next to the research.

Questions about Australia PMI

What time is the Australia PMI released?

At 9:00 in the morning Sydney time. In Amsterdam that is 01:00 for most of the European summer and 23:00 the evening before in the winter, with midnight in October and around the start of April.

What does a PMI above 50 mean?

That more firms reported a rise than a fall compared with the month before. Below 50, more reported a fall. The distance from 50 shows how widespread the change is, not how large it is.

What is the difference between the flash and the final PMI?

The flash comes late in the month and is based on around 80 to 90% of the survey responses. The final figures follow at the start of the next month with the full panel, and they usually differ only a little.

Who publishes the Australia PMI?

S&P Global compiles and publishes it, from surveys that began in May 2016. Older releases of the same surveys carried the name of a sponsor, Judo Bank, so some calendars and charts still use that name.