Australian National Accounts: Finance and Wealth

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National, public and private corporations, government and household financial and capital accounts, and household balance sheets.

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Reference period
December 2020
Released
25/03/2021
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Key statistics

  • Household wealth increased $501.5b (4.3%) to a record $12,033.5b
  • Demand for credit was $63.3b, following last quarter’s record of $154.7b 
  • Australia's net lending position increased $4.3b to $9.8b
  • Capital investment as a proportion of GDP fell to 22.1%

Main features

Articles

This quarter's Finance and Wealth includes the following articles:

Financing resources and investment table

Financing resources and investment December quarter 2020, original, current prices, $b
    Non-financial corps Financial corps Government Households Total national Rest of world
Financing resources      
 Net saving (a) 43.73.0-37.433.743.0-12.8
 plus Consumption of fixed capital 44.23.211.431.690.4-
 Gross saving 87.86.2-26.065.3133.4-12.8
 plus Net capital transfers 1.00.0-2.21.0-0.20.2
 less Statistical discrepancy (b) -----0.4-
 Total financing resources 88.86.2-28.166.3133.6-12.6
Uses of financing (investment)      
 Capital formation      
  Gross fixed capital formation 52.12.821.141.5117.5-
  plus Changes in inventories 0.20.00.92.43.5-
  plus Net acquisition of non-produced non-financial assets -0.3-0.3---
  Total capital formation 52.02.822.243.9121.0-
 plus Financial investment      
  Aquistition of financial assets 39.510.8-24.564.721.511.7
  less Incurrence of financial liabilities 13.613.628.824.811.721.5
  Net Financial investment (Net lending (+) / net borrowing (-)) 25.9-2.7-53.239.99.8-9.8
 less Net errors and omissions-10.9-6.1-2.917.6-2.82.8
 Total investment88.86.2-28.166.3133.6-12.6

- nil or rounded to zero
(a) Net saving for the rest of world is the balance on the external income account.
(b) The statistical discrepancy is not able to be distributed among the sectors.

Financial market summary table

Financial market summary, $b
  Amounts outstanding,
Sep-20		Transactions,
Sep-20		Other changes,
Dec-20		Amounts outstanding,
Dec-20
Currency and deposits    
  Currency 99.53.3-102.8
  Transferable deposits 1,465.290.2-3.31,552.1
  Other deposits 1,499.7-61.4-14.01,424.3
Short term debt securities    
  Bills of exchange 14.2-1.8-12.4
  One name paper 480.99.5-6.3484.1
Long term debt securities    
  Bonds, etc. 3,235.22.2-40.83,196.6
Derivatives    
  Derivatives 895.1-76.1132.2951.2
Loans and placements    
  Short term 402.6-16.2-2.2384.2
  Long term 4,083.717.9-6.94,094.7
Shares and other equity    
  Listed 1,943.822.0286.62,252.4
  Unlisted 4,882.777.070.45,030.1
Insurance technical reserves    
  Reserves of pension funds and life 2,682.720.7157.72,861.0
  General insurance payments 134.34.70.0139.0

- nil or rounded to zero 

Flow of funds diagrams

Net transactions during December quarter 2020

This is a flowchart that shows the intersectoral financial flows of net transactions during the December quarter 2020
This is a flowchart that shows the intersectoral financial flows of net transactions during the December quarter 2020. Financial corporations borrowed $32.6b from households and $2.9b from rest of world. They lent $28.4b to general government and $3.9b to non-financial corporations. Rest of the world borrowed $27.1b from non-financial corporations and lent $26.5b to general government and $0.3b to households. General government borrowed $4.0b from non-financial corporations and $3.0b from households. Households lent $6.4b to non-financial corporations.

Amounts outstanding at end of December quarter 2020

This is a flowchart that shows the intersectoral financial flows of amounts outstanding at the end of the December quarter 2020.
This is a flowchart that shows the intersectoral financial flows of amounts outstanding at the end of the September quarter 2020. Net claims of financial corporations were $2,118.5b from households. Net claims of non-financial corporations were $1,068.0b from financial corporations, $736.9b from households, $1,029.9b from rest of world and $412.8b from general government. Net claims of general government were $380.4b from financial corporations, $326.0b from rest of world and $562.6b from households. Net claims of rest of world were $149.1b from financial corporations and $157.3b from households.

National investment

National investment rose by $12.0b to $121.0b in the December quarter. 

General government investment increased by $4.1b to $22.2b driven by an increase in state and local capital investment.  

Non-financial corporations' investment increased slightly by $48m to $52.0b, driven by an increase in gross fixed capital formation. 

Household investment rose $7.7b to $43.9b, from $36.2b in the previous quarter.

Financial investment

Australia was a net lender of $9.8b, the seventh consecutive quarter of net lending. The main contributors were a: 

  • $53.7b increase in rest of world equities, driven by pension funds and non-money market funds
  • $12.3b repayment of loans driven by other private non-financial corporations (OPNFC)

Pension funds and non-money market funds sought increased returns in overseas markets as economic conditions continued to improve. OPNFC repaid debt and sought to raise funds through equity

Households

Households' $40.0b net lending position was the result of a $64.7b acquisition of assets and a $24.8b incurrence of liabilities, driven by a: 

  • $28.1b increase in deposits
  • $19.7b increase in net equity in pension funds
  • $22.8b increase in loan borrowings

The increase in deposits reflects increased household saving due to ongoing government income support packages such as JobKeeper and economic support payments,  although they were scaled back during the quarter. With economic conditions improving and interest rates at record lows households increased  their loan borrowings. Net equity in pension funds increased as less households withdrew funds under the early access to superannuation policy. 

Non-financial corporations

Non-financial corporations' $25.9b net lending position was due to a $39.5b acquisition of financial assets and a $13.6b increase in liabilities. The increase in assets was driven by a: 

  • $18.0b increase in share and other equity investments
  • $9.9b increase in deposits

 With continued recovery of onshore and overseas financial markets , non-financial corporations increased their holdings of equity. Deposits increased as non-financial corporations continued to save.

General government

General government's $53.2b net borrowing position was due to a $24.5b decrease in assets and $28.8b increase in liabilities and driven by:

  • $32.7b decrease in deposit assets
  • $23.5b net issuance of bonds
  • $18.1b increase in loan borrowings

Government drew down on deposits to finance expenditure and reduced their debt issueance and loan borrowings

Demand for credit

Demand for credit table

Demand for credit non-financial domestic sectors, $b
  Credit market outstandings,
Sep-20		Demand for credit,
Dec-20		Other changes,
Dec-20		Credit market outstandings,
Dec-20
Non-financial corporations    
 Investment funds 442.25.517.2464.9
 Other private 3,680.12.6117.23,799.9
 Public 143.03.80.0146.8
General government    
 National 910.510.1-12.0908.6
 State and local 261.118.8-0.1279.8
Households2,410.122.6-0.62,432.1
Total7,846.963.3121.98,032.1

- nil or rounded to zero

 

Demand for credit was $63.3b in the December quarter, of which:

  • general government borrowed $28.9b
  • households borrowed $22.6b
  • other private non-financial corporations borrowed $2.6b

Credit market outstanding grew $185.2b (2.4%) of which $121.9b was revaluation gains. Revaluation gains of $134.4b in the shares of private non-financial corporations were partly offset by revaluation losses of $12.0b on national general government bonds due to rising 10 year bond yields.

General government

General government's demand for credit was $28.9b in the December quarter following the record $146.9b of funds raised last quarter. The national general government reduced the amount of treasury bonds issued and used surplus funds raised in previous quarters to finance COVID-19 policies. This quarter additional funds were acquired through:

  • $18.5b in loan borrowings by state and local general government
  • $23.4b in net bond issuances by national general government, partly offset by maturities of $12.5b in treasury notes

Households

Increased housing market activity boosting demand for new housing loans, particularly from owner-occupiers while investor loans also grew for the first time since December quarter 2018. Short term borrowing increased as households used credit card debt for retail spending amid rising consumer confidence. This was seen in:

  • $21.7b of long term loan borrowings
  • $1.0b of short term loan borrowings

Private non-financial corporations

Demand for credit remained low for other private non-financial corporations as businesses continued to repay lines of credit that had been drawn down in the March quarter. Businesses showed an increased preference for sourcing funds through equity raisings as they continued to deleverage amid ongoing uncertainty about future economic conditions. These are reflected in:

  • $10.9b repayment of loans and placements
  • $32.0b raised through shares and other equity

Households

Balance sheet

Household balance sheet, $b
  Amounts outstanding,
Sep-20		Transactions,
Dec-20		Other changes (a),
Dec-20		Holding gains/losses,
Dec-20		Amounts outstanding,
Dec-20
Non-financial assets     
 Land and dwellings 7,528.89.15.7235.87,779.3
 Other non-financial assets 664.93.3--0.6667.5
Financial assets     
 Superannuation reserves 3,173.923.4-142.93,340.1
 Shares and other equity 1,060.98.1-52.51,121.4
 Currency and deposits 1,293.629.4--0.41,322.6
 Other financial assets 333.73.8-13.0350.5
Liabilities     
 Loans 2,404.322.8--0.62,426.4
 Other liabilities 119.52.0--121.5
Wealth (Net worth)11,532.052.25.7443.612,033.5
Memorandum item     
 Consumer durables (b) 415.79.4--418.8

- nil or rounded to zero
(a) Not all other changes in volume are separately identifiable. Some have been shown as holding gains.
(b) Consumer durables are not included in net worth.

Financial assets

Household selected financial assets, $b
 Transactions,
Jun-20		Amounts outstanding,
Jun-20		Transactions,
Sep-20		Amounts outstanding,
Sep-20		Transactions,
Dec-20		Amounts outstanding,
Dec-20
Total assets 77.45,747.382.65,862.064.76,134.7
Deposits 33.91,184.263.91,247.928.11,275.5
Shares and equity 1.91,056.7-0.41,060.98.11,121.4
Net equity in reserves 20.22,648.47.82,687.820.72,867.0
 Pension funds 19.22,525.16.32,562.919.72,727.9
Other assets 21.4858.011.2865.57.9870.8

Liabilities

Household selected liabilities, $b
 Transactions,
Jun-20		Amounts outstanding,
Jun-20		Transactions,
Sep-20		Amounts outstanding,
Sep-20		Transactions,
Dec-20		Amounts outstanding,
Dec-20
Total liabilities 17.02,517.46.92,523.824.82,547.9
Short term loans -5.467.2-4.362.91.063.9
Long term loans 21.42,328.713.32,341.421.72,362.5
Other liabilities 1.1121.6-2.1119.52.0121.5

Household wealth rose 4.3% ($501.5b) to a new high of $12,033.5b at the end of the December quarter, driven by holding gains in financial assets and continued growth in the housing market.

Average household wealth increased 4.2% ($19,028) to $467,709 per person. 

Financial assets

Financial assets of households rose 4.7% ($272.6b), driven by a:

  • $166.2b rise in superannuation reserves
  • $60.6b rise in shares and other equity

Superannuation reserves and shares and other equity are now above pre-pandemic levels, having fully recovered from the losses experienced in March quarter 2020. Growth was mainly driven by positive revaluations, reflecting the positive performance of domestic and overseas share markets.  

Transactions in superannuation ($23.4b) were higher than during the September quarter ($10.1b), reflecting lower withdrawals under the early access to superannuation scheme, plus employment growth over the quarter as economic conditions improved. 

Non-financial assets

Non-financial assets owned by households increased 3.1% ($253.1b), driven by a:

  • $250.5b rise in land and dwellings 

Holding gains on land and dwellings reflect the continued rebound in property prices as housing market activity increased over the December quarter. The growth was supported by record low interest rates, continued support through a range of government incentives, and strong pent-up demand in combination with low levels of housing stock on the market. For further analysis, see: Insights of the housing market during COVID-19

Liabilities

Household liabilities increased 1.0% ($24.2b), driven by a: 

  • $20.1b rise in housing loans
  • $1.0b rise in short term debt

The growth in housing loans reflects the increased activity in the property market over the quarter. The rise was mainly driven by owner-occupier loans, which increased $21.8b. Investor loans also contributed $2.6b to the rise, recording positive growth for the first time since December 2018.

Credit cards were the biggest contributor to the increase in short term debt. Positive growth this quarter follows on from three consecutive quarters of falls. The increase was supported by the easing of lockdown measures, boosting consumer confidence and encouraging households to spend. Growth was particularly strong in November and December, coinciding with strong retail spending figures due to Black Friday sales, as well as activity during the December holiday period.

Private non-financial corporations

Financial assets

Private non-financial corporations' selected financial assets, $b
 Transactions,
Jun-20		Amounts outstanding,
Jun-20		Transactions,
Sep-20		Amounts outstanding,
Sep-20		Transactions,
Dec-20		Amounts outstanding,
Dec-20
Total assets48.21,635.535.81,647.339.51,671.5
Deposits35.0673.613.5686.010.9694.2
Shares and equity12.3544.113.7539.418.0561.8
Other accounts receivable0.6192.38.9199.411.1196.9
Other assets0.2225.5-0.2222.5-0.5218.5

Liabilities

Private non-financial corporations' selected liabilities, $b
  Transactions,
Jun-20		Amounts outstanding,
Jun-20		Transactions,
Sep-20		Amounts outstanding,
Sep-20		Transactions,
Dec-20		Amounts outstanding,
Dec-20
Total liabilities -10.64,264.19.04,298.112.94,444.8
Total debt securities -1.6317.9-7.9313.6-12.8292.4
Loans -30.8956.3-6.5939.1-10.9927.4
 Pension funds 0.07.10.17.20.17.4
 Non-money market investment funds -0.610.7-0.610.10.010.1
 Rest of world -13.2276.02.9269.0-12.9256.9
Shares and equity 27.62,783.914.42,828.432.03,004.0
 Households 3.0704.61.3712.86.4736.6
 Rest of world 11.31,077.87.31,086.316.31,129.8
Other liabilities -5.8205.98.9216.94.4221.0

Private non-financial corporations increased their liabilities by $12.9b, driven by:

  • $32.0b equity raising
  • partly offset by a $12.8 net maturity of debt securities, and $10.9b repayment of loans

Private non-financial corporations chose equity raising over debt issuance for funding, due to continued regulatory relief measures implemented by the Australian Stock Exchange and increased investor sentiment. This resulted in:

  • debt to equity ratio (adjusted for price changes) falling from 0.66 to 0.64

Deposit accounts of private-non financial corporations increased $10.9b, as businesses maintained their strong liquidity positions through equity raising, and receipt of government subsidy payments. Private non-financial corporations deposits increased $111.0b over the 2020 calendar year, driving their record net lending position of $119.0b through the year. As economic uncertainty hindered investment decisions since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, businesses have instead continued to accumulate their deposit assets.

Financial corporations

Financial assets and liabilities

Financial corporations' financial assets, $b
 Amounts outstanding,
Sep-20		Transactions,
Dec-20		Other changes,
Dec-20		Amounts outstanding,
Dec-20
Central bank332.522.7-6.0349.2
Authorised deposit taking institutions4,274.1-18.534.24,289.9
Other broad money institutions201.63.3-0.2204.7
Pension funds2,410.917.0142.82,570.7
Life insurance corporations175.7-0.110.5186.1
Non-life insurance corporations241.32.97.7251.9
Money market investment funds43.5-5.00.038.5
Non-money market investment funds1,011.813.963.51,089.2
Central borrowing authorities486.725.72.0514.3
Securitisers739.9-34.50.0705.4
Other financial corporations88.5-1.96.893.3

- nil or rounded to zero

Financial corporations' liabilities, $b
 Amounts outstanding,
Sep-20		Transactions,
Dec-20		Other changes,
Dec-20		Amounts outstanding,
Dec-20
Central bank334.719.1-4.3349.5
Authorised deposit taking institutions4,320.5-18.9113.84,415.4
Other broad money institutions175.30.712.5188.5
Pension funds2,613.717.5145.32,776.6
Life insurance corporations165.2-0.814.7179.1
Non-life insurance corporations246.13.06.5255.6
Money market investment funds43.5-4.7-0.338.5
Non-money market investment funds1,140.514.162.11,216.7
Central borrowing authorities480.523.50.1504.0
Securitisers753.8-24.1-9.0720.7
Other financial corporations184.5-1.26.3189.6

Authorised deposit-taking institutions (ADIs)

Financial assets

Authorised deposit taking institutions' selected financial assets, $b
  Transactions,
Jun-20		Amounts outstanding,
Jun-20		Transactions,
Sep-20		Amounts outstanding,
Sep-20		Transactions,
Dec-20		Amounts outstanding,
Dec-20
Total assets -116.44,334.4-63.34,274.1-18.54,289.9
Deposits -22.6154.5-20.1133.248.4180.9
Bonds 139.41,014.5-33.7986.5-67.6914.1
 Securitisers 100.4607.5-127.4485.3-29.9450.4
 National general government 26.0155.460.0216.3-38.2175.8
Loans -124.12,474.029.62,493.733.92,521.6
Other assets -109.1691.4-39.1660.7-33.2673.2

Liabilities

Authorised deposit taking institutions' selected liabilities, $b
  Transactions,
Jun-20		Amounts outstanding,
Jun-20		Transactions,
Sep-20		Amounts outstanding,
Sep-20		Transactions,
Dec-20		Amounts outstanding,
Dec-20
Total liabilities-117.94,385.0-48.24,320.5-18.94,415.4
Deposits43.42,548.273.12,617.72.12,607.6
 Other private non-fin corps33.1628.117.8645.08.1651.3
 Pension funds5.1267.7-14.9252.6-15.0237.4
 Households33.91,162.863.91,226.628.11,254.4
Bonds-28.9519.0-29.1490.80.9475.0
Shares and equities5.9458.00.7438.02.2523.2
Other liabilities-138.3859.7-92.9774.0-24.1809.7

ADIs' share of funding from equities increased after a strong quarter in the domestic share market.
In the December quarter, ADIs' funding compared to the previous quarter comprised of:

  • 12.2% from shares and other equity, an increase from 10.2% 
  • 6.4% from short term debt securities, an increase from 6.1%
  • 60.8% from deposits, a decrease from 61.2% 
  • 11.1% from bonds, a decrease from 11.5% 

ADIs' funding from deposits fell $10.1b with a:

  • $20.0b decrease from rest of world
  • $15.2b decrease from pension funds
  • $5.5b decrease from non-money market investment funds
  • offset by a $27.8b increase from households and a $6.2b increase from other private non-financial corporations

ADIs' funding from bonds fell by $15.7b, due to the maturity of existing debt securities.  This was offset by a $16.6b increase in one name paper, which ADIs issued to offset the matured bonds.   

During the December quarter, ADIs were able to sell bonds issued by national general government to the RBA in return for deposit assets.  In addition, they continued to unwind internal securitisation activity. This resulted in a:

  • $40.6b decrease in bonds issued by national general government
  • $34.9b decrease in bonds issued by securitisers
  • $45.2b increase in deposits accepted by the central bank.

Pension (superannuation) funds

Financial assets

Pension (superannuation) funds' selected financial assets, $b
  Transactions,
Jun-20		Amounts outstanding,
Jun-20		Transactions,
Sep-20		Amounts outstanding,
Sep-20		Transactions,
Dec-20		Amounts outstanding,
Dec-20
Total assets12.82,374.26.72,410.917.02,570.7
Deposits5.1279.7-13.9265.4-16.3248.0
Bonds4.2121.1-5.0115.85.4121.9
Shares and equity57.61,834.924.61,894.428.72,058.3
 Other private non-fin corps4.0303.20.7312.33.4354.6
 Non-money market investment funds52.9805.08.5833.612.8888.2
 Rest of world-7.2351.010.7371.113.6401.1
Net equity in life offices-59.119.4-1.817.7-1.517.8
Other assets-73.5119.1-16.7117.8-18.6124.7

Liabilities

Pension (superannuation) funds' selected liabilities, $b
  Transactions,
Jun-20		Amounts outstanding,
Jun-20		Transactions,
Sep-20		Amounts outstanding,
Sep-20		Transactions,
Dec-20		Amounts outstanding,
Dec-20
Total liabilities12.22,576.15.42,613.717.52,776.6
Net equity in reserves19.22,527.86.42,565.719.82,731.3
 Households19.22,525.16.32,562.919.72,727.9
Other liabilities-7.048.3-1.148.0-2.345.3

Total financial assets of pension (superannuation) funds increased $159.8b during the quarter, recovering from the losses suffered in the March 2020 quarter, with

  • $164.0b increase in shares and other equity
  • partly offset by a $17.3b decrease in deposits

Favourable conditions in the domestic and overseas share markets drove valuation gains of $135.3b. Pension funds invested an additional $28.7b in shares and other equity, particularly in non-money market funds and rest of world. The early access to superannuation  scheme closed at the end of December and the requirements for liquidity subsided. As a result, funds were reallocated from deposits into equities.

Government

National general government financial assets

National general government selected financial assets, $b
  Transactions,
Jun-20		Amounts outstanding,
Jun-20		Transactions,
Sep-20		Amounts outstanding,
Sep-20		Transactions,
Dec-20		Amounts outstanding,
Dec-20
Total assets44.3607.732.6639.0-23.5616.1
Deposits38.299.132.7131.6-30.8100.4
 Central bank41.676.932.4109.3-34.474.9
 Authorised deposit taking institutions-2.616.6-0.416.13.319.4
One name paper7.338.20.338.33.641.1
Shares and equity-6.3176.52.1176.13.6178.2
Other assets5.1294.0-2.5293.00.1296.4

National general government liabilities

National general government selected liabilities, $b
  Transactions,
Jun-20		Amounts outstanding,
Jun-20		Transactions,
Sep-20		Amounts outstanding,
Sep-20		Transactions,
Dec-20		Amounts outstanding,
Dec-20
Total liabilities117.01,273.6120.61,399.09.71,396.0
One name paper33.653.50.553.9-12.541.4
Bonds72.3734.5117.1855.523.4866.9
 Central bank25.4104.4-8.496.518.5113.7
 Authorised deposit taking institutions26.0155.460.0216.3-38.2175.8
 Rest of world17.5359.960.9422.336.0451.8
Other liabilities11.2485.73.1489.6-1.2487.7

State and local general government financial assets

State and local general government selected financial assets, $b
  Transactions,
Jun-20		Amounts outstanding,
Jun-20		Transactions,
Sep-20		Amounts outstanding,
Sep-20		Transactions,
Dec-20		Amounts outstanding,
Dec-20
Total assets9.5540.53.5552.7-0.8557.6
Deposits8.270.56.677.0-1.975.1
Loans and placements1.353.3-4.249.0-0.149.0
Shares and equity-1.0390.70.3399.7-1.0404.5
 State and local PNFCs0.0312.60.0319.70.0321.2
 Other private non-fin corps-0.545.30.245.4-0.445.8
Other assets0.926.00.927.02.129.1

- nil or rounded to zero

State and local general government liabilities

State and local general government selected liabilities, $b
  Transactions,
Jun-20		Amounts outstanding,
Jun-20		Transactions,
Sep-20		Amounts outstanding,
Sep-20		Transactions,
Dec-20		Amounts outstanding,
Dec-20
Total liabilities33.4461.033.5491.519.2508.8
Loans and placements30.8226.529.8256.218.5274.8
 Central borrowing authorities28.7218.129.8247.918.9266.7
Unfunded superannuation claims0.9172.60.9170.50.9169.5
Other liabilities1.761.92.964.8-0.264.5

General government

Financial assets of general government (national, and state and local) decreased $18.1b (1.5%), driven by deposits with a:

  • $34.4b withdrawal of deposits with the RBA, partly offset by a
  • $1.4b placement of deposits with ADIs

Liabilities of general government increased $14.1b (0.1%), driven by a:

  • $23.3b issuance of bonds
  • $18.0b increase in loans, partly offset by a
  • $12.5b maturity of one name paper

The general government experienced the first decrease in financial assets, and weakest increase in liabilities since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Australian economy. The weakness was due to reduced issuance of treasury bonds and net maturities of treasury notes, as the Commonwealth government financed most of its expenditure through withdrawal of deposit assets. Issuance of semi-government bonds by central borrowing authorities was reduced to $20.5b, which was passed onto state governments as loans. Reduction in demand for loans was due to state governments beginning to draw down on surplus deposit assets to fund their own expenditure. 

For further analysis, see Government and Reserve Bank financial balance sheets during COVID-19

Capital investment

Figures in the capital investment section are in seasonally adjusted current prices.

Net lending (+) / borrowing (-)

Australia's net lending position increased by $3.8b to $14.3b this quarter. This was driven by a: 

  • $6.9b increase in national net savings
  • $1.1b decrease in inventories

National net lending as a proportion of GDP rose this quarter driven by a rise in net saving. The continued easing of restrictions and increased activity led to a decline in COVID-19 related subsidies and and increase in taxes on production. 

  • Households' net lending decreased by $26.0b to $29.5b 
  • General government net borrowing decreased by $39.6b to $50.1b
  • Financial corporations' net lending decreased by $0.6b to $10.4b 
  • Non-financial corporations' net lending decreased by $11.6b to $20.9b

Notable drivers for households and general government were: 

  • Household final consumption expenditure increased, as easing of restrictions and growing confidence in public health measures increased spending across Australia.
  • General government primary income payable decreased driven by a reduction in COVID-19 subsidy support packages for businesses.
     

Capital Investment

National capital investment decreased to 22.1% as a proportion of GDP, the lowest proportion seen in this series history. 
Relative to GDP: 

  • Non-financial corporations' investment declined to 9.7%
  • General government investment declined slightly to 4.0%
  • Household investment increased to 7.9%
  • Financial corporations' investment declined slightly to 0.5%

Non-financial corporations' investment rose, despite falling slightly as a proportion of GDP. Increased investment in machinery and equipment was supported by government initiatives including the instant asset write off and improvements in conditions. 
General government investment rose, despite also falling slightly as a proportion of GDP. This was driven by strength in state and local general government, reflecting elevated levels of investment in public infrastructure projects.
Household investment rose driven by ownership transfer costs, new dwellings and home improvement investment. The continued easing of restrictions, improved  housing market confidence and the government HomeBuilder program supported increased housing investment.

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Time series spreadsheets

Data files

Previous catalogue number

This release previously used catalogue number 5232.0

Revisions and changes

Changes to the publication

TABLE 51. Financial Accounts Summary of Bank Deposits and Lending Split by Household Subsectors ($ million) has been be renamed TABLE 51. Financial Accounts Summary of Authorised Deposit taking Institution Deposits and Lending Split by Household Subsectors ($ million).

Revisions in this issue

There have been revisions to previously published aggregates due to:

  • Quality assurance reviews affecting the published aggregates after December quarter 2018, in addition to amendments to data collected in the ABS Survey of Financial Information, ABS Survey of International Investment and to data derived from Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) administrative data sets.
  • Revisions to the sectoral capital accounts are due to more up-to-date data being incorporated and concurrent seasonal adjustment.

Methodology

Australian National Accounts: Finance and Wealth methodology, December 2020

Articles

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