Australia posted a merchandise trade surplus of A$4.609 billion in September, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said on Friday.
That missed forecasts for a surplus of A$5.240 billion and was down from A$5.284 billion in August.
Exports were down 4.3 percent on month to A$40.827 billion after easing 0.2 percent in the previous month.
Imports slumped 3.1 percent on month to A$36.219 billion after also slipping 0.2 percent a month earlier.