5204.0 - Australian System of National Accounts, 2006-07  
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 02/11/2007   
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INVESTMENT AT CURRENT PRICES

Investment represents almost a quarter of GDP. Understanding which sectors are investing and expanding their future economic capacity provides an insight into the underlying dynamics within the economy.


As a proportion of GDP, investment by Non-financial corporations fell during the 1970s and was reasonably stable up to the 1990s. It has generally been above 10% and in 2006-07 investment by Non-financial corporations was 13.6% of GDP. Household investment as a proportion of GDP declined steadily between 1959-60 and 1973-74 but has since remained steady at around 10% of GDP. In 2006-07 the ratio to GDP was 10.2%. General government investment as a proportion of GDP peaked at 4.5% in 1975-76 and has generally fallen since then. It was 2.4% of GDP in 2006-07. The highest ever level of Financial corporations investment, expressed as a proportion of GDP, was recorded in 1989-90 (2.0%). It has generally fallen since then and was 0.7% of GDP in 2006-07.

Investment, By Sector - relative to GDP
Graph: Investment, By Sector—relative to GDP



In terms of the different asset types, in 2006-07 Non-dwelling construction represented the largest percentage (33.9%) of total gross fixed capital formulation, up from 29.8% in 1996-97.

Investment, By type of asset - relative to GDP
Graph: Investment, By type of asset—relative to GDP



Over the same period investment in Machinery and Equipment has fallen from around 35.6% to 30.0% in 2006-07. The relative shares of investment in other asset types have remained relatively stable over the last 10 years.