Quarterly estimates of key economic flows in Australia, including gross domestic product (GDP), consumption, investment, income and saving
Unless otherwise stated all figures are in seasonally adjusted, chain volume measures.
The reference year for chain volume measures is 2021-22.
| Jun 22 to Sep 22 | Sep 22 to Dec 22 | Dec 22 to Mar 23 | Mar 23 to Jun 23 | Jun 23 to Sep 23 | Through the year, Sep 22 to Sep 23 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chain volume GDP and related measures (b) | |||||||
| GDP | 0.2 | 0.9 | 0.5 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 2.1 | |
| GDP per capita (c) | -0.4 | 0.3 | - | -0.1 | -0.5 | -0.3 | |
| Gross value added market sector (d) | 0.4 | 0.7 | 0.6 | 0.6 | -0.1 | 1.9 | |
| Real net national disposable income | -1.4 | 1.1 | 1.6 | -1.2 | -0.6 | 0.9 | |
| Productivity | |||||||
| GDP per hour worked | -1.2 | -0.6 | -0.7 | -1.6 | 0.9 | -2.1 | |
| Real unit labour costs | 2.2 | 0.2 | -0.2 | 2.7 | 1.2 | 3.9 | |
| Prices | |||||||
| GDP chain price index (original) | 0.5 | 0.6 | 1.6 | -2.1 | 0.6 | 0.6 | |
| Terms of trade | -5.5 | -2.5 | 3.2 | -7.2 | -2.6 | -9.0 | |
| Current price measures | |||||||
| GDP | 0.7 | 1.7 | 2.3 | -0.7 | 1.2 | 4.5 | |
| Household saving ratio | 7.0 | 3.8 | 3.5 | 2.8 | 1.1 | na | |
na not available
- nil or rounded to zero
a. Change on preceding quarter; last column shows the change between the current quarter and the corresponding quarter of the previous year.
b. Reference year for chain volume measures and real income measures is 2021-22.
c. Population estimates are as published in National, state and territory population and ABS projections.
d. ANZSIC divisions A to N, R and S. See Glossary - Market sector.
Gross Domestic Product (GDP) rose 0.2%, driven by increased government consumption and capital investment during the quarter. Growth in both household consumption and GDP over 2023 has slowed due to sustained cost of living pressures and higher interest rates.
Nominal GDP rose 1.2%. The GDP implicit price deflator (IPD) increased 1.0%, driven by continued strength in domestic prices. The domestic final demand IPD rose 1.3%, and remained elevated near 30-year highs in through the year terms (+5.2%). Prices for essential household consumption drove the rise, particularly in housing rent, fuel and communications.
The terms of trade fell 2.6% as export prices (-1.4%) fell and import prices (+1.2%) rose. Export prices for coal and liquefied natural gas (LNG) declined with elevated levels of inventories in export markets curbing demand. Strong oil prices and the depreciation of the Australian dollar led to rises in import prices during the quarter.
Domestic final demand contributed 0.5 percentage points to GDP growth.
Government expenditure contributed 0.2 percentage points, driven by social benefits to households. Capital investment contributed 0.2 percentage points to GDP, led by new investment by public corporations.
Changes in inventories contributed 0.4 percentage points to GDP, led by a build up in mining inventories. A larger fall in exports than production volumes, particularly in coal, iron ore and LNG, meant increased quantities held in inventories.
Net trade detracted 0.6 percentage points from GDP, from a fall in exports (-0.7%) and a rise in imports (+2.1%).
Government expenditure (+1.1%) contributed 0.2 percentage points to GDP. State and federal government social benefit schemes for households, including the Energy Bill Relief Fund and expansion of the Child Care Subsidy, were the main contributors to the rise. Defence expenditure (+4.7%) was also boosted by large scale international training exercises facilitated in Australia during the quarter.
Capital investment (+1.1%) contributed 0.2 percentage points to GDP. Growth was led by new public investment, which excludes the impact of second-hand asset transfers from the private sector, and was driven by large expansion work done on major public corporation projects.
Private investment rose 1.2%, as new engineering construction accelerated on mining infrastructure projects.
Ownership transfer costs (+2.0%) rose for the second consecutive quarter due to increased property market activity.
Dwelling investment experienced a small rise of 0.2%. Increased renovation activity saw a rise in alterations and additions, which was partly offset by falls in other residential dwelling construction.
Household spending (+0.0%) was unchanged in the September quarter, largely impacted by the treatment of government policies including electricity rebates and expansion of the Child Care Subsidy scheme, which saw increased government consumption on behalf of households.
Though the year, household consumption (+0.4%) slowed to its lowest rate since the COVID-19 impacted March 2021 quarter. The slow down in demand reflected the ongoing effects of higher mortgage interest rates and sustained cost of living pressures on household budgets.
Household spending on electricity, gas and other fuel fell 16.9%, partly due to underlying weakness in usage as a result of a warmer than usual end to winter. The state and federal government rebates also saw a reduction in household spending on electricity.
Purchase of vehicles rose 13.0%, as prolonged demand for motor vehicles was met with improved supply. Delivery wait times for cars continued to ease towards pre-pandemic levels.
Large scale events including the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup saw increased spending on hotels, cafes and restaurants (+0.9%) and transport services (+3.9%).
Exports of goods and services fell 0.7% driven by a fall in exports of goods, partly offset by a rise in exports of services. Goods exports fell 1.2% led by mining commodities. Elevated inventory levels in export destinations resulted in weakened demand for Australian coal and LNG, while uncertainty in international markets led to reduced demand for iron ore.
Exports of services increased 1.9% driven by travel services. Education related travel continued to grow as the stock of international students studying in Australia reached record levels. Personal travel also contributed to growth boosted by the re-introduction of group travel from China and fans attending the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup.
Imports of goods and services rose 2.1%. Imports of services rose 8.4% driven by travel, as Australians travelled to northern hemisphere destinations for longer overseas stays through the peak holiday season.
Imports of goods rose 0.5%, led by capital goods, notably motor vehicles and telecommunications equipment. Imports of industrial transport equipment rose 16.5% as continued strong demand for motor vehicles was met by easing supply constraints at Australian ports. Imports of telecommunications equipment (10.9%) also contributed to the rise in capital goods, in preparation for the release of new mobile phone models during the quarter.
Gross value added (GVA) rose 0.2% this quarter, with 12 out of 19 industries experiencing rises.
Health care and social assistance rose 1.8% rose with strength from the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) and the Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS).
Transport, postal and warehousing rose 1.4%, boosted by the introduction of next-day mail services by Australia Post as well as the continued ramp up in the growth of international travel.
Mining (-1.0%) activity detracted from growth, as planned and unplanned maintenance disrupted production across a number of mine sites.
Agriculture (-3.5%) declined due to dryer conditions. An El Niño event was declared during the quarter.
Electricity, gas, water and waste services fell 2.6%, with warmer than usual conditions reducing demand for heating in the quarter.
Gross operating surplus (GOS) fell 1.5%. The weakness was driven by private non-financial corporations (-4.5%) as profits for the Mining industry continued to decline. Demand for energy coal and LNG fell with high inventory levels in export markets driving falls in energy commodity prices. Non-mining industries were mixed across industries as higher sales were offset by higher operating costs.
Dwellings GOS owned by persons (+3.5%) partly offset the falls, recording its highest rate of growth since September quarter 2007 and its highest growth through the year (13.0%) since September 1990. Tight rental market conditions persisted. Lower rental availability and strong population growth continued in the September quarter.
Financial corporations GOS rose (+2.1%) as banks’ margins increased with a large portion of fixed rate mortgages rolled onto higher variable rates.
Compensation of employees (COE) rose 2.6%, with continued tightness in the Labour market during the September quarter. Private COE rose 3.0% due to higher wages and bonuses as businesses continued to face competition for skilled workers. The Fair Work Commission’s 2022-23 minimum wage decision further contributed to wage growth. Public COE (+1.2%) rose, boosted by higher annual salaries following updated enterprise bargaining agreements and the removal of public sector salary caps during the quarter.
Employers' social contributions (+3.8%) experienced its second highest rise since the September quarter 1992 with the superannuation guarantee increasing from 10.5% to 11% on 1 July 2023.
The household saving to income ratio declined from 2.8 to 1.1, the lowest level since December 2007. Household saving declined due to a strong rise in income payable (+6.3%), which experienced its highest growth through the year (+27.9%) since September quarter 1977. Income taxes drove the rise, in the absence of the Low and Middle Income Tax Offset which ceased over 2022-23. Interest on dwellings also contributed to the rise in income payable, as fixed rate mortgages continued to transition to higher variable rates.
Inflationary pressure led to increased nominal household consumption (+1.4%), as consumers faced higher prices for goods and services, further contributing to the decline in household saving.
Household gross income (+1.8%) partly offset the decline, due to increased income from labour (COE) (+2.5%) and interest received on deposits (+8.4%).
| Jun 23 to Sep 23 | Sep 22 to Sep 23 | Jun 23 to Sep 23 | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| % change | % change | % points contribution to GDP growth | |||
| Final consumption expenditure | |||||
| General government | 1.1 | 2.6 | 0.2 | ||
| Households | - | 0.4 | - | ||
| Total final consumption expenditure | 0.4 | 1.0 | 0.3 | ||
| Gross fixed capital formation | |||||
| Private | |||||
| Dwellings | 0.2 | -0.3 | - | ||
| Ownership transfer costs | 2.0 | -6.1 | - | ||
| Non-dwelling construction | 3.3 | 6.0 | 0.2 | ||
| Machinery and equipment | -0.5 | 7.7 | - | ||
| Cultivated biological resources | -3.4 | 5.1 | - | ||
| Intellectual property products | 1.6 | 11.1 | - | ||
| Public | 0.7 | 12.4 | - | ||
| Total gross fixed capital formation | 1.1 | 5.9 | 0.2 | ||
| Changes in inventories | na | na | 0.4 | ||
| Gross national expenditure | 0.9 | 1.0 | 0.9 | ||
| Exports of goods and services | -0.7 | 6.8 | -0.2 | ||
| Imports of goods and services | 2.1 | 2.2 | -0.4 | ||
| Statistical discrepancy (E) | na | na | -0.1 | ||
| Gross domestic product | 0.2 | 2.1 | 0.2 | ||
- nil or rounded to zero (including null cells)
na not available
Income estimates are in seasonally adjusted current prices
| Jun 23 to Sep 23 | Sep 22 to Sep 23 | Jun 23 to Sep 23 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| % change | % change | % points contribution to GDP growth | ||
| Compensation of employees | 2.6 | 8.4 | 1.2 | |
| Gross operating surplus | ||||
| Private non-financial corporations | -4.5 | -6.0 | -1.0 | |
| Other (a) | 3.0 | 10.5 | 0.5 | |
| Gross mixed income | 0.3 | -4.0 | - | |
| Taxes less subsidies on production and imports | 5.4 | 8.5 | 0.5 | |
| Statistical discrepancy (I) | na | na | - | |
| Gross domestic product | 1.2 | 4.5 | 1.2 | |
- nil or rounded to zero (including null cells)
na not available
a. Includes Public non-financial corporations, Financial corporations, General government and Dwellings owned by persons.
| Jun 23 to Sep 23 | Sep 22 to Sep 23 | Jun 23 to Sep 23 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| % change | % change | % points contribution to GDP growth | |
| Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing | -3.5 | 16.2 | -0.1 |
| Mining | -1.0 | 0.5 | -0.1 |
| Manufacturing | -0.3 | 0.2 | - |
| Electricity, Gas, Water and Waste Services | -2.6 | -2.1 | -0.1 |
| Construction | 0.8 | 3.0 | 0.1 |
| Wholesale Trade | -0.9 | -2.0 | - |
| Retail Trade | 0.6 | -1.2 | - |
| Accommodation and Food Services | 1.5 | 5.0 | - |
| Transport, Postal and Warehousing | 1.4 | 5.5 | 0.1 |
| Information Media and Telecommunications | 2.6 | 9.2 | 0.1 |
| Financial and Insurance Services | 0.1 | 0.4 | - |
| Rental, Hiring and Real Estate Services | 0.9 | 4.7 | - |
| Professional, Scientific and Technical Services | 0.6 | -1.8 | - |
| Administrative and Support Services | -1.7 | 2.1 | -0.1 |
| Public Administration and Safety | 1.1 | 3.9 | 0.1 |
| Education and Training | 0.4 | 1.6 | - |
| Health Care and Social Assistance | 1.8 | 3.3 | 0.1 |
| Arts and Recreation Services | 2.0 | 3.8 | - |
| Other Services | - | 6.9 | - |
| Ownership of dwellings | 0.4 | 1.6 | - |
| Taxes less subsidies on products | - | -1.2 | - |
| Statistical discrepancy (P) | na | na | - |
| Gross domestic product | 0.2 | 2.1 | 0.2 |
- nil or rounded to zero (including null cells)
na not available
| Jun 23 to Sep 23 | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NSW | Vic. | Qld | SA | WA | Tas. | NT | ACT | Aust.(b) | ||
| Final consumption expenditure | ||||||||||
| General government | 0.6 | 1.0 | 1.1 | 1.0 | 3.2 | 2.7 | 1.2 | 0.4 | 1.1 | |
| Households | 0.2 | 0.1 | -0.2 | -0.3 | -0.3 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 0.6 | 0.0 | |
| Gross fixed capital formation | ||||||||||
| Private | -0.6 | 1.2 | -1.2 | 1.1 | 7.0 | 3.9 | 1.3 | -7.4 | 1.2 | |
| Public | 2.3 | -1.5 | -4.0 | 6.0 | 2.9 | 1.8 | 5.8 | 17.4 | 0.7 | |
| State final demand | 0.3 | 0.4 | -0.3 | 0.5 | 2.4 | 1.5 | 1.1 | 0.7 | 0.5 | |
- nil or rounded to zero (including null cells)
a. Change on preceding quarter
b. Australia estimates relate to Domestic final demand.
The map shows quarterly volume measures of state final demand by state/territory.
New South Wales' state final demand increased 0.3% for the quarter.
Victoria's state final demand increased 0.4% for the quarter.
Queensland's state final demand decreased -0.3% for the quarter.
South Australia's state final demand increased 0.5% for the quarter.
Western Australia's state final demand increased 2.4% for the quarter.
Tasmania's state final demand increased 1.5% for the quarter.
Northern Territory's state final demand increased 1.1% for the quarter.
Australian Capital Territory's state final demand increased 0.7% for the quarter.
There are revisions in this issue due to the incorporation of more up-to-date data and concurrent seasonal adjustment.
This issue also includes re-referencing of chain volume measure (CVM) estimates to the 2021-22 financial year. This in isolation will only affect levels of CVM estimates, generally leaving growth rates unchanged. Re-referencing can have an impact on CVM GDP growth (and other estimates) for the latest financial year (2022–23) if there are significant relative price changes between 2020-21 and 2021-22.
The estimates in this issue incorporate the 2021-22 annual supply and use tables. The supply and use tables incorporate revisions reflecting changes in methods, concepts, classifications and data sources. For more information on the role of supply and use tables in the national accounts and the major revisions, please see the Revisions and changes section in Australian System of National Accounts, 2022-23, and the article Improved Annual National Accounts estimates: Results of the implementation of the 2021-22 benchmarks.
The estimates in this issue incorporate changes from the 2022-23 historical revisions. The 2023 round of revisions incorporated four major historical revision improvements:
For more information, please read Improved estimates of the Annual National Accounts: results of the 2023 historical revisions.
The ABS intends to cease the Retail Business Survey (RBS) and Retail Trade Publication after the June 2025 reference period (August 2025). For additional detail, please visit Cessation of the Retail Business Survey and Retail Trade Publication.
The ABS has been assessing bank transactions data and other administrative data as potential sources for Household Final Consumption Expenditure (HFCE) estimates. National Accounts has found these sources to be fit for purpose and will begin using more of these data sources in lieu of survey based data sources in line with ABS’ strategic priority to reduce burden on data providers.
The ABS intends to transition to these new data sources, phasing out the use of RBS in 2024 and 2025 over four incremental waves. The first wave of data source replacement will occur in the December quarter 2023 for HFCE category Food and Miscellaneous Goods and Services. A schedule of expected changes is outlined in Table 1 below.
| Phases | Intended implementation |
| Wave 1 1. 01.0 Food 2. 12.0 Miscellaneous Goods and Services | December quarter 2023 |
| Wave 2 1. 03. Clothing and Footwear 2. 02.0 Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco | March quarter 2024 |
| Wave 3 1. 05.0 Furnishings and Household Equipment 2. 11.0 Hotels, Cafes, and Restaurants | June quarter 2024 |
| Wave 4 1. 06.0 Health 2. 09.0 Recreation and Culture 3. Retail Trade Industry GVA | December quarter 2024 |
If you have any questions regarding these changes, please see Cessation of the Retail Business Survey and Retail Trade Publication or contact household.spending@abs.gov.au
As advised in the June quarter 2023 publication of the Australian National Accounts: National Income, Expenditure and Product, the publication of Input Output Product Classifications (IOPC) estimates in the HFCE Food Estimates Data Cube has been discontinued from the September quarter 2023 release onwards. The publication of higher-level aggregates such as Supply Use Product Classifications (SUPC) and Total Food will continue as usual. IOPC level estimates are available on an annual basis within the Australian National Accounts: Input-Output Tables.
If you have any questions or feedback about these changes, please contact national.accounts@abs.gov.au.
The ABS has suppressed the release of some data in the September quarter release of Australian National Accounts: National Income and Product. Tables affected include Tables 26 and 33 State Final Demand, Detailed Components for New South Wales and Australian Capital Territory.
The data items affected include original and seasonal measures for current price and chain volume measures of:
The reason for the data being suppressed is to confidentialise the transfer of a second hand asset from the private sector.
Due to the impacts of COVID-19 on the economy, trend estimates for all series in the National Accounts have been suspended from June 2019 (inclusive). In the short term, this measurement will be significantly affected by changes to regular patterns in economic activity. If trend estimates were to be calculated without fully accounting for this unusual event, they would likely provide a misleading view of the underlying trend in the economy.
In the March quarter 2020 issue of Australian National Accounts: National Income, Expenditure and Product, the ABS advised that the method used to produce seasonally adjusted estimates would be changed from the ‘concurrent’ method to the ‘forward factors’ method for series with significant and prolonged impacts from COVID-19.
Given the large changes in the Australian economy during the COVID-19 period and the continuing use of a forward factors approach to seasonal adjustment, the ABS has undertaken an extensive annual review of seasonally adjusted series. This review changed a range of time series treatments to ensure that the seasonal adjustment process continues to be less influenced by the large irregular movements over the past year. Revisions to most seasonally adjusted series are relatively minor, but larger than would be observed on a quarterly basis through the use of concurrent seasonal adjustment.
For some series, the review has allowed a return to concurrent seasonal adjustment, where economic conditions are assessed to have returned to pre COVID-19 patterns. For the remaining series where this is not the case, forward factors have been calculated for the next 12 months through this annual process.
As of September quarter 2023, the publication of Input Output Product Classification estimates in the HFCE Food datacube has been discontinued. For further information regarding the changes, see the Revisions and changes section above.
The September quarter 2023 issue of Australian National Accounts: Finance and Wealth will be released on 21 December 2023. This publication includes the quarterly household balance sheets with an estimate of net worth. It also provides quarterly estimates of the financial flows and balance outstanding between sectors and various sub-sectors of the domestic economy and with the rest of the world. Other key estimates within the publication include the financial instrument markets, demand for credit by non-financial domestic institutional sectors during the quarter, and their corresponding levels of credit outstanding and quarterly sectoral capital accounts (current price).
The November 2023 issue of the Monthly Household Spending Indicator will be released on 12 January 2024. The experimental Monthly Household Spending Indicator is derived using aggregated, de-identified banks transactions data from some of Australia’s banking and financial institutions. The ABS transforms the banks transactions data in order to derive the Monthly Household Spending Indicator. As this data is not designed for statistical purposes, its scope varies from Australian National Accounts concept of household final consumption expenditure (HFCE) and the Retail Trade turnover estimates for retail businesses. The indicator should be considered experimental at this stage, as further enhancement to the transformation processes and methodology are expected in the future.
The 2022-23 issue of Estimates of Industry Multifactor Productivity will be released on 13 December 2023. It provides updated estimates of multifactor productivity (MFP) for the 16 industries defined to comprise the market sector. Longer time series are produced for 12 selected industries. Also included are productivity growth cycles for market sector industries and selected industries aggregates back to 1998-99 and 1973-74, respectively. The release includes experimental estimates of productivity growth cycles for individual industries, sources of aggregate labour productivity growth and its industry origin. Experimental estimates of state productivity back to 1994-95 are also provided.
This release previously used catalogue number 5206.0.