As of October 10, 2024, the largest company listed on the Australian stock exchange was Commonwealth Bank, with a total market capitalization of nearly 228 billion Australian dollars. The financial sector dominated the list of the largest Australian domestic companies, with five of the top 10 companies being either retail or investment banking groups.

The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) is the largest stock exchange in the world, with an equity market capitalization of almost ** trillion U.S. dollars as of June 2025. The following three exchanges were the NASDAQ, PINK Exchange, and the Frankfurt Exchange. What is a stock exchange? A stock exchange is a marketplace where stockbrokers, traders, buyers, and sellers can trade in equities products. The largest exchanges have thousands of listed companies. These companies sell shares of their business, giving the general public the opportunity to invest in them. The oldest stock exchange worldwide is the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, founded in the late sixteenth century. Other functions of a stock exchange Since these are publicly traded companies, every firm listed on a stock exchange has had an initial public offering (IPO). The largest IPOs can raise billions of dollars in equity for the firm involved. Related to stock exchanges are derivatives exchanges, where stock options, futures contracts, and other derivatives can be traded.

Key information about Australia Market Capitalization

• Australia Market Capitalization accounted for 1,878.429 USD bn in Feb 2025, compared with a percentage of 1,953.275 USD bn in the previous month
• Australia Market Capitalization is updated monthly, available from Jan 1985 to Feb 2025
• The data reached an all-time high of 2,088.660 USD bn in Sep 2024 and a record low of 46.183 USD bn in Feb 1985

CEIC converts monthly Market Capitalization into USD. Australian Securities Exchange provides Market Capitalization in local currency. The Federal Reserve Board period end market exchange rate is used for currency conversions. Market Capitalization prior to January 2024 includes only domestically listed companies.

Australia's main stock market index, the ASX200, rose to 8603 points on July 4, 2025, gaining 0.08% from the previous session. Over the past month, the index has climbed 0.75% and is up 9.98% compared to the same time last year, according to trading on a contract for difference (CFD) that tracks this benchmark index from Australia. Australia Stock Market Index - values, historical data, forecasts and news - updated on July of 2025.

With a market capitalization of 8.88 billion Australian dollars as of February 2024, Treasury Wine Estates was the leading food, beverage, and tobacco company listed on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) in Australia. In addition, Treasury Wine Estates held a spot among the top five consumer staple companies listed on the ASX.

Treasury Wine Estates’ global reach

With their corporate head offices located in Melbourne and regional offices on four different continents, Treasury Wine Estates operates nearly 13,000 planted hectares worldwide. Annual total revenues of Treasury Wine Estates in Australia have increased substantially since 2014, with the company generating significant revenues from regions across the globe.

A booming Australian wine market

As one of the world’s leading producers of wine, the alcoholic beverage plays an important role in Australia’s economy. Both the revenue of the wine production industry as well as the total export value of wine from Australia are projected to increase in the coming years.

BHP Group Limited led the metals and mining companies listed on the Australian Securities Exchange as of June 2025, with a market capitalization of over *** billion Australian dollars. BHP (formerly known as BHP Billiton) is a British-Australian mining company, with its major headquarters in London and Melbourne. It is one of the leading mining companies in the world. Mining company BHP BHP is a global mining, metals, and petroleum company with operations in Australia, North America, South America, and the UK. In the fiscal year 2024, BHP’s revenue reached **** billion U.S. dollars. The profit of BHP was reported at over *** billion U.S. dollars in the same year. The company primarily focuses on the extraction of coal, copper, iron ore, and petroleum. BHP's iron ore segment had the highest revenue at over ** billion U.S. dollars in the fiscal year 2024.  Mining in Australia  Mining is one of Australia’s largest industries, and the country plays a crucial role in the trade of mining commodities. The value added by the mining industry in Australia exceeded ****billion Australian dollars in 2024. Furthermore, the mining industry provides employment opportunities to over *** thousand people in Australia. Australia’s role in the mining industry is expected to continue to grow, particularly in Asia, due to its vast resources, proximity, and willingness to participate in the global marketplace.

The S&P/ASX 200 index, the most prominent index of stocks listed on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX), lost over one fifth of its value between the end of February and the end of March 2020, owing to the economic impact of the global coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. It has since recovered, and surpassed its pre-corona level in April 2021. Despite fluctuations, it reached its highest value in January 2025 at 8532.3 during this period.The S&P/ASX 200 index is considered the benchmark index for the Australian share market and contains the 200 largest companies listed on the ASX.

James Hardie Industries plc was the leading construction material company listed on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) in Australia as of June 2025, with a market capitalization of approximately ***** billion Australian dollars. Brickworks Limited came in second, with a market cap of almost **** billion Australian dollars.

Northern Star Resources Limited led the gold mining companies listed on the Australian Securities Exchange as of June 2025, with a market capitalization of ** billion Australian dollars. The largest Australian gold miner, Northern Star has operations in Western Australia, the Northern Territory, and Alaska. Northern Star Resources Northern Star Resources’ revenue reached almost * billion Australian dollars in the 2024 financial year. The company’s net profit after tax was also significant, at *** million Australian dollars. In late 2024, Northern Star announced plans to purchase De Grey Mining in an all-share deal, which would give the company access to the Hemi gold development project in Western Australia. Gold mining down under The volume of gold produced in Australia is forecasted to reach *** metric tons by 2026. While Australian gold mining has traditionally been an important segment of the global metal mining industry, the number of gold mines in the country was forecast to decrease between 2021 and 2057. Despite this, Australia was one of the leading gold mining countries worldwide.

Wesfarmers Limited was the leading retail company listed on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) in Australia as of November 2023, with a market capitalization of just over 60 billion Australian dollars. The market cap of Wesfarmers was significantly higher than the next leading listed retailers, JB Hi-Fi and Harvey Norman.

 Wesfarmers Limited

Headquartered in Perth, Australia, Wesfarmers Limited is a conglomerate that operates its business primarily in Australia and New Zealand. It has a diverse range of business divisions including home improvement and outdoor living, apparel and general merchandise, office supplies, and an industrials division. They own major retailers including Bunnings, the Kmart Group, and Officeworks.

In the financial year 2023, Wesfarmers reported revenue from continuing operations of over 43 billion Australian dollars. In the same year, the conglomerate saw an increase in net profit after tax, following a slight drop in 2022.

Impact of COVID-19 on retail

Wesfarmers was not the only retail business affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Many brick-and-mortar retailers in the country turned their attention to online selling to retain customers. In 2023, online retail spending in Australia continued to show some growth across most categories. The fashion segment however, saw negative growth for both domestic and international merchants in online spending in Australia in the March 2023 quarter.

The Woolworths Group was the leading consumer staples company listed on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) as of June 2025, with a market capitalization of approximately ***** billion Australian dollars. Trailing behind, with a market cap of around ***** billion Australian dollars, was supermarket rival, the Coles Group.

As of June 2025, the leading mining company with lithium operations listed on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) was Mineral Resources Ltd, with a market capitalization of around **** billion Australian dollars. Pilbara Minerals Ltd followed, with a market capitalization of **** billion dollars. Pilbara Minerals Pilbara Minerals’ Pilgangoora mine, located in Western Australia, is one of the largest hard-rock lithium mines in the world. In the 2024 financial year, Pilbara Minerals’ revenue reached **** billion Australian dollars. The company’s production volume of lithium spodumene concentrates amounted to just over *** thousand dry metric tons in 2024. Australia’s lithium trade Australia plays a vital role in the global lithium market. While fiscal year 2023 saw a relatively high export value of lithium from Australia, primarily due to high production volumes and global demand, this decreased in the following years. Most of Australia’s lithium mines are in Western Australia. In 2024, China was the major export destination for Western Australian lithium spodumene concentrate. As the country explores more mid-stream lithium processing opportunities, it remains to be seen if China will still be the nation’s leading lithium trade partner.

Neuren Pharmaceuticals Limited was the leading pharmaceuticals company listed on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) in Australia, with a market cap of just over 1.4 billion Australian dollars on March 13th, 2025. Neuren Pharmaceuticals has a focus on therapies for neurodevelopmental disorders that appear in early childhood.

Guzman y Gomez Limited, an Australian fast food restaurant chain specializing in Mexican cuisine, was the leading company in the restaurants segment on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) in Australia as of June 2025, with a market capitalization of approximately **** billion Australian dollars. Following behind with a market cap of around **** billion Australian dollars was Domino's Pizza Enterprises Limited.

The S&P/ASX Small Ordinaries index saw a price return of 2,892.51 Australian dollars in July 2023. Due to the financial effects of the global coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the price return for the index decreased significantly between the end of February and the end of March 2020.

ASX index performance affected by the coronavirus pandemic

The S&P/ASX Small Ordinaries index is a key benchmark for small-cap Australian companies. The index measures companies included in the S&P/ASX 300 but not in the S&P/ASX 100. In comparison, the S&P/ASX 200 index measures the performance of the 200 largest companies listed on the ASX. Due to the financial effects of the global coronavirus pandemic, it lost more than one-fifth of its value between the end of February and the end of March 2020. Since then, it has improved and surpassed its pre-corona level with its value peaking around 7.5 thousand index points in August 2021.

Financial markets in Australia

Financial markets in Australia are an integral part of the country's economy. The Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) is the country's primary stock exchange and, as of December 2022, it had a domestic market capitalization of approximately 2.46 trillion Australian dollars. As of April 2023, the largest company listed on the ASX was BHP Group Limited, with a total market capitalization of over 228 billion Australian dollars. The financial sector dominated the list of the largest Australian domestic companies, with five of the top 10 companies being either retail or investment banking groups. Overall, financial markets in Australia are diverse, and robust, attracting both local and international investors.

The Goodman Group was the leading real estate company listed on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) as of June 2025, with a market cap of around ***** billion Australian dollars. The Scentre Group followed with a market cap of around ***** billion Australian dollars.

Telstra was the leading telecommunications company listed on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) in Australia as of February 2022, with a market cap of 45.94 billion Australian dollars. Telstra is a telecommunications and technology company that competes in all telecommunications markets in Australia.

The National Broadband Network

The National Broadband Network (NBN) was a government initiative that aimed to upgrade the country’s telecommunications infrastructure. The NBN was built using different broadband network technologies. This was implemented by NBN Co, a corporation established by the Australian Government. For Australian consumers to make use of this infrastructure, internet service providers contract with the NBN to access the wholesale market and then sell internet packages to consumers.

Telstra Corporation Limited

Telstra leads the wholesale market of NBN broadband services with TPG Telecom, Optus, and Vocus Group making up most of the remaining market. Similar to the broadband market, Telstra's retail market share of mobile handset services in Australia was the largest out of all mobile service providers in Australia. Recently, the revenue of Telstra was reported at 21.6 billion Australian dollars.

Wesfarmers Ltd led the natural gas companies listed on the Australian Securities Exchange as of March 2025, with a market capitalization of over 81 billion Australian dollars. Meanwhile, Woodside Energy Group took second place, with a market cap of around 44 billion Australian dollars. Natural gas production in Australia Australia’s natural gas production volume exceeded 151 billion cubic meters in 2023, almost triple the volume compared to 2010. The state with the largest production volume of natural gas was Western Australia. Natural gas must first be converted to liquefied natural gas (LNG) before it can be shipped overseas, with Australia one of the leading exporters of LNG worldwide. LNG export market The export volume of liquefied natural gas from Australia sharply increased in 2019, though it has stabilized in the past few years. The export increase was supported by higher production at existing plants in the country. Japan was the leading export market for LNG from Australia, with the remaining major export destinations also located in Asia.

BHP Group was ranked number one among the iron ore mining companies listed on the Australian Securities Exchange as of June 2025, with a market capitalization of almost *** billion Australian dollars. BHP Group is a multinational, diversified natural resources company and is headquartered in Melbourne, Australia.

Globe International Limited was the leading company in the textiles, apparel, and luxury goods segment on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) in Australia as of June 2025, with a market capitalization of almost *** million Australian dollars. Atlas Pearls Ltd came in second, with a market cap of over ** million Australian dollars.