5232.0 - Australian National Accounts: Finance and Wealth, Mar 2015 Quality Declaration 
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 25/06/2015   
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CAPITAL ACCOUNT


Graph 1. Net lending (net borrowing), by sector, relative to GDP, seasonally adjusted
Graph Image for Graph 1. Net lending net borrowing, by sector, relative to GDP, seasonally adjusted.


Australia has generally been a net borrower from overseas. In the national accounts, this is reflected by a negative value for net lending to non-residents. The last time Australia was a net lender of funds to the rest of world was June quarter 1975. The ratio of net borrowing from overseas to GDP in March quarter 2015 was 2.7%, up from 2.6% in December quarter 2014.

In the March quarter 2015, financial corporations net lending relative to GDP was 1.6%, a rise from a net lending position of 1.2% in December quarter. General government net borrowing relative to GDP was 2.0%, net borrowing for non-financial corporations was 4.1%, while household net lending was 2.0%.


Graph 2. Gross fixed capital formation, by sector, relative to GDP, seasonally adjusted
Graph Image for Graph 2. Gross fixed capital formation, by sector, relative to GDP, seasonally adjusted


Gross fixed capital formation by sector represents investment in capital assets. Capital investment by non-financial corporations as a proportion of GDP started growing during the 2000s peaking at 17.0% in the December quarter 2012. It has since returned to levels similar to 2010, representing 13.7% of GDP in March quarter 2015.

Household capital investment as a proportion of GDP remained steady between 2000 and 2010 at around 10% of GDP. Since June quarter 2008, growth in GDP has been stronger than growth in household gross fixed capital formation resulting in the ratio falling gradually. The lowest proportion of household investment to GDP in this period was 7.7% recorded in March quarter 2013. In March quarter 2015, household capital investment was 8.9% of GDP.

General government capital investment as a proportion of GDP remained steady at around 3.0% through the 2000s, with a recent peak of 4.6% in March 2010. It was 3.0% in March quarter 2015.