MAIN FEATURES EXPENDITURE CHAIN VOLUME MEASURES
|  |
 |  |  | Trend | Seasonally adjusted |  |
 |  |  |
|
|  |
 |  |  | % change
Sep 06
to Dec 06 | % change
Dec 05
to Dec 06 | % points contribution
to growth in GDP
Sep 06 to Dec 06 | % change
Sep 06
to Dec 06 | % change
Dec 05
to Dec 06 | % points contribution
to growth in GDP
Sep 06 to Dec 06 |  |
|  |
Final consumption expenditure |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
 | General government | 0.5 | 3.8 | 0.1 | -0.5 | 2.6 | -0.1 |  |
 | Households | 0.9 | 3.4 | 0.5 | 1.2 | 3.8 | 0.7 |  |
Gross fixed capital formation |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
 | Private |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
 |  | Dwellings | 1.8 | 3.6 | 0.1 | 1.4 | 3.2 | 0.1 |  |
 |  | Business investment | -0.1 | 1.7 | - | 1.7 | 2.1 | 0.3 |  |
 |  | Ownership transfer costs | -5.8 | -5.8 | -0.1 | -2.8 | -3.3 | - |  |
 | Public | 3.9 | 14.0 | 0.2 | 9.4 | 17.0 | 0.4 |  |
Changes in inventories |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
 | Private non-farm | . . | . . | 0.1 | . . | . . | 0.6 |  |
 | Farm and public authority | . . | . . | - | . . | . . | 0.1 |  |
Gross national expenditure | 0.9 | 3.0 | 0.9 | 1.9 | 3.5 | 2.0 |  |
Exports of goods and services | 0.7 | 4.5 | 0.1 | 0.8 | 4.1 | 0.1 |  |
Imports of goods and services | 2.6 | 8.7 | -0.6 | 6.3 | 9.7 | -1.4 |  |
Statistical discrepancy (E) | . . | . . | 0.1 | . . | . . | 0.3 |  |
Gross domestic product | 0.6 | 2.4 | 0.6 | 1.0 | 2.8 | 1.0 |  |
|  |
. . not applicable |
- nil or rounded to zero (including null cells) |
DECEMBER QUARTER
Summary Comments
Final Consumption Expenditure
- Household final consumption expenditure grew by 0.9% in trend terms (1.2% seasonally adjusted). The growth in seasonally adjusted terms is the highest since September quarter 2004 with the main contributors to growth being Other goods & services, Food, Transport and Recreation & culture.
Gross fixed capital formation
- Private business investment fell by 0.1% in trend terms but rose 1.7% seasonally adjusted. The seasonally adjusted increase was due in most part to New engineering construction investment (up 9.6%). Dwelling investment increased by 1.8% in trend terms and 1.4% seasonally adjusted. The seasonally adjusted growth in dwellings was driven by a 2.8% increase in Alterations and additions. Alterations and additions have increased by 9.7% in the last three quarters.
Changes in inventories
- Total inventories decreased by $253m in trend terms, which followed a decrease of $560m in the September quarter. In seasonally adjusted terms total inventories increased by $564m compared to a $1,003m fall in the September quarter. As a result, changes in inventories contributed 0.7 percentage points to seasonally adjusted GDP growth during the quarter.
Exports and imports of goods and services
- In trend terms, Exports of goods and services increased 0.7% (0.8% seasonally adjusted). In seasonally adjusted terms Rural exports fell 5.7% while Non-rural exports rose 2.7%, driven by Other mineral fuels and Mineral ores.
- Imports of goods and services increased by 2.6% in trend terms. The seasonally adjusted 6.3% growth was the result of a 9.8% increase in imports of Capital goods and a 6.1% increase in imports of Consumption goods.
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