WESTERN Australia’s international trade surplus improved to $9.8 billion in the September quarter 2006, up 34.4 per cent on the same period a year earlier, according to the Department of Treasury and Finance’s WA International Trade Data for September 2006. There was a 25.9 per cent increase in exports, to $10.6 billion, and a 38.2 per cent increase in imports to $5.6 billion for year to September 2006, compared with the previous year. As a result, WA recorded a trade surplus of $31.3 billion over the year. At the national level, exports rose by 20.8 per cent to $159.2 billion over the year to September 2006, while imports grew by 12.7 per cent to $171.5 billion. WA’s share of Australia’s exports was 32.3 per cent, up from 31 per cent the previous year, while the states share of the nation’s imports was 11.8 per cent, up from 9.6 per cent the following year.