Someday, resources will not be Australia's biggest export. That day may come sooner than you think. In fact, amid extreme volatility in the price of iron ore, it might already be upon us.

Exports of services were almost equal to exports of metals, ores and minerals in May, according to the latest monthly data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

The ABS does not seem to break out exports into specific product categories, but according to a speech by a Reserve Bank of Australia official earlier this year, iron ore was eclipsed by high-value services such as education and tourism in export dollars last year.

Services exports were actually higher than resource exports as recently as 2009, just before the latest mining boom started.