Australia's trade deficit widened in March, data released Tuesday by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) showed.

The balance on goods and services was a deficit of 1,587 million AU dollars (1,617 million U.S. dollars) in March, a rise of 833 million AU dollars (849 million U.S. dollars) on the deficit in February, the ABS said.

Economists had forecast a deficit of 1.2 billion AU dollars (1. 22 billion U.S. dollars) for March.

During March, exports of goods and services rose 2.0 percent while imports of goods and services increased 5.0 percent, the ABS said.