Australia is now the cheapest place in the world to buy an iPod, thanks to the Australian dollar’s sharp decline, a new study shows.And it’s not just good news for music lovers, with CommSec saying the currency’s decline will boost Australia’s trade competitiveness and help insulate the nation from the global economic downturn.The study conducted by CommSec reflects its “iPod index”, which measures the price of an 8GB iPod nano in 62 countries to compare currencies.

The Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA), which developed its CommSec iPod index as an indicator of foreign exchange directions almost two years ago, said Monday the ubiquitous device was cheapest in Australia.

Its survey of 62 countries found that an Apple iPod 8gb nano music player, when measured in US dollar terms, cost 131.95 US dollars in Australia.This was about five percentcheaper than in Indonesia, where the same iPod would cost $138.47.In Hong Kong, which was the cheapest spot to buy the music player in the world rankings in July, the cost was now $148.36.

Commsec chief equities economist Craig James said while the local price of iPods had fallen in Australia and elsewhere since July, the Australian dollar had dropped so steeply that Down Under goods were now “super-cheap for foreign buyers”.Australia is the cheapest place in the world to buy an Apple iPod by a considerable margin.

Mr James said manufacturers and the tourism sector were the main beneficiaries of the currency decline, adding that while global prices of manufactured goods had remained steady, commodity prices had fallen in line with the currency.

For Australian tourists, the Aussie dollar’s decline means that they may have to forgo that overseas shopping expedition.”Clearly it’s far cheaper to be buying goods here in Australia than in places like Asia or the US,” Mr James said.And foreign tourists may have an added reason to visit Australia, with a British visitor now able to buy an iPod here for just over 81 euro, saving around 25 per cent on the 109 euro local price in the UK.

The iPod indicator, designed as a 21st century variant on the Big Mac index used by The Economist magazine since 1986, works on the theory that the same product should cost roughly the same the world over if exchange rates are working properly.

The index found that the music player, which has been sold by the millions since it was launched by Apple in 2001, is most expensive in South America and Eastern Europe and cheapest in Asia and North America.

.