Australian Deputy Prime Minister and Trade Minister Mark Vaile said on Tuesday that Australia's exports this year are on track to reach a record high.

He was commenting on the latest trade figures released by Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) earlier on Tuesday.

Australia's trade deficit improved by 230 million Australian dollars (172 million US dollars) to 1.3 billion dollars (1 billion US dollars) in October, the ABS figures show.

For the 10 months to October this year, exports were up 13.9 percent over the same period last year, Vaile said.

"Strong resources prices have stimulated growth in resources export sectors and with resources firms investing to raise capacity and robust growth in other sectors, the outlook for exports remains positive," Vaile said in a statement.

"Australia's exports in October reached 15 billion dollars (11. 2 billion US dollars), the second highest level on record and the highest recorded value for October," he said.

"The rise was 2 percent higher than exports in September 2005," he said.

He said there was strong growth in exports to North Asia, particularly China, South Korea and Japan.

Source: Xinhua