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Fiscal sustainability

Resilient and sustainable nation

Release date and time

15/09/2025 11:30am AEST

Released 15/09/2025

Metric

All Australia general government sector net debt (L2) as a proportion of GDP

Why this matters

Fiscal sustainability improves the economic wellbeing of Australians by supporting a strong and stable economy and ensuring the sustained provision of essential government services. A sustainable fiscal position enables government to respond to changes in economic conditions and buffer the economy and our people against adverse shocks.

Progress

In 2023-24, all Australia general government net debt (L2) was 32% of GDP. It has risen from 31% in 2022-23 and 18% in 2013-14.

All Australia general government sector net debt (L2) as a proportion of GDP (a)
	All Australia general government sector net debt (L2) as a % of GDP (%)
2013-14	17.6
2014-15	20.6
2015-16	23.5
2016-17	23.0
2017-18	23.7
2018-19	24.5
2019-20	32.0
2020-21	37.8
2021-22	33.4
2022-23	30.5
2023-24	31.7

All Australia general government sector net debt (L2) as a proportion of GDP (a)

["","All Australia general government sector net debt (L2) as a % of GDP"]

[["2013-14","2014-15","2015-16","2016-17","2017-18","2018-19","2019-20","2020-21","2021-22","2022-23","2023-24"],[[17.6],[20.6],[23.5],[23],[23.7],[24.5],[32],[37.8],[33.4],[30.5],[31.7]]]

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Using the GDP annual, current prices series as published in Table 36 in the December quarter 2024 issue of Australian National Accounts: National Income, Expenditure and Product.

Data Source

ABS Government Finance Statistics, Annual