Australian National Accounts: Finance and Wealth

Latest release

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

Reference period
March 2025
Released
26/06/2025
  • Next Release 25/09/2025
    Australian National Accounts: Finance and Wealth, June 2025
  • Next Release 18/12/2025
    Australian National Accounts: Finance and Wealth, September 2025
  • Next Release 26/03/2026
    Australian National Accounts: Finance and Wealth, December 2025
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Key statistics

  • Household wealth increased $137.1b (0.8%) to $17,309.7b.
  • Demand for credit was $136.1b.
  • Australia's net borrowing position decreased by $13.0b to $6.4b this quarter.
  • Capital investment as a proportion of GDP decreased to 24.5%.

Main features

Financing resources and investment tables

Financial market summary table

Flow of funds diagrams

National investment

National investment decreased by $21.7b to $157.7b in the March quarter.

  • General government investment decreased by $3.2b to $25.9b, driven by a fall in gross fixed capital formation for both state and local general government and national general government.
  • Non-financial corporations' investment decreased by $11.0b to $75.6b, driven by a fall in gross fixed capital formation for both private and public non-financial corporations.
  • Households' investment decreased by $7.2b to $52.2b, driven by decreases in gross fixed capital formation and change in inventories.

Financial investment

Australia was a net borrower of $6.4b from rest of world (ROW). The main contributors were a:

  • $23.8b acquisition by ROW of debt securities issued by Australia
  • $15.6b repayment of debt securities issued by ROW

This was partly offset by a:

  • $25.1b withdrawal of deposits by ROW
  • $15.6b placement of deposits by Australia with ROW

ROW acquired bonds and one name paper issued by banks and general government. 

Households

Households' $31.4b net lending position was due to a $66.8b acquisition of assets, partly offset by a $35.4b incurrence of liabilities. The acquisition of assets was driven by:

  • $29.4b in deposits
  • $28.1b in net equity in superannuation

While liabilities were driven by:

  • $36.1b in loan borrowing

Deposit asset growth has weakened slightly compared to the previous two quarters. The overall rise in deposits this quarter reflected an increase in household savings as gross disposable income outpaced spending.

General government

General government’s $19.0b net borrowing position was due to a $55.9b incurrence of liabilities, partly offset by a $36.9b acquisition of assets. Liabilities were driven by:

  • $25.1b in bond issuance
  • $12.2b in net issuance of short term debt securities.

Acquisition of assets was driven by a:

  • $38.3b increase in deposits

The national general government remained in a net borrowing position for a third consecutive quarter. Net issuance of Treasury bonds this quarter was driven by ongoing funding requirements including defence spending and cost-of-living relief measures. State and territory governments continued to borrow funds from their respective central borrowing authorities to finance investment in health and transport infrastructure.

Demand for credit

Demand for credit table

Demand for credit was $136.1b in the March quarter, of which:

  • other private non-financial corporations borrowed $45.9b
  • general government borrowed $45.5b
  • households borrowed $35.9b

Credit market outstandings increased by $98.2b, comprised of demand for credit of $136.1b and was partly offset by revaluation losses of $37.9b. Holding losses on the shares of other private non-financial corporations were $46.6b, in line with a fall in equity prices on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX). This was partly offset by holding gains in Commonwealth government bonds of $16.4b due to a fall in bond yields. 
 

Other private non-financial corporations

Business credit growth remained relatively stable this quarter. Business financing activity comprised:

  • loan borrowings of $21.7b
  • equity raising of $21.6b
  • corporate bond issuance of $1.9b

General government

The March quarter saw the strongest demand for credit by the Commonwealth government since September quarter 2020. The Commonwealth government issued additional debt securities following large maturities of COVID-19 era bond liabilities in the December quarter. State government demand for credit was driven by investment in health and transport infrastructure. General government financing activity comprised:

  • $37.3b in net issuance of bonds and one name paper by national general government
  • $8.5b in loan borrowings by state and local general government

Households

Housing credit growth decreased from the previous quarter which reflected a seasonal fall in lending for housing, after strong growth through 2024. Household short term loan borrowings also decreased in line with seasonally lower consumer spending in March quarters. Households borrowed:

  • $36.8b in long term loans
  • Partly offset by a net repayment of $0.7b in short term loans.
  1. "Other" includes private non-financial investment funds and public non-financial corporations.

Households

Balance sheet

Financial assets

Liabilities

Household wealth grew 0.8% ($137.1b) to $17,309.7b by the end of the March quarter. The increase in net worth was driven by land and dwelling assets.

Non-financial assets

Non-financial assets owned by households increased by 1.2% ($151.8b). The value of residential land and dwellings increased $125.3b or 1.2 per cent, with both property prices and the number of dwellings increasing during the quarter.

Financial assets

Financial assets of households increased by 0.3% ($26.9b), with a:

  • $29.2b rise in currency and deposits
  • $7.3b rise in shares and other equity
  • Partly offset by a $16.4b fall in superannuation reserves

Total deposits increased by 1.7%. Transferable deposit account balances rose $14.5b. Other deposit accounts (which include term deposit and other savings accounts) rose $15.0b.
The fall in the value of superannuation was due to poor performance in domestic and overseas share markets and was partially offset by household contributions.

Liabilities

Household liabilities increased by 1.3% ($41.7b), with a:

  • $26.9b rise in housing loans
  • $0.6b fall in short-term loans.

The growth in housing loans was driven by demand from both owner occupiers and investors.

Private non-financial corporations

Financial assets

Liabilities

Other private non-financial corporations demand for credit

Other private non-financial corporations demand for credit of $45.9b was driven by:

  • $21.7b of loan borrowings
  • $21.6b of equity raising

The debt-to-equity ratio (adjusted for price changes) increased to 0.60. This reflects private non-financial corporations increased preference for debt.

The growth in firm's loan borrowing was driven by loans from ADIs and was used to fund investment in building construction, and machinery and equipment.

Firms' equity growth softened, driven by weaker export revenue reinvested in foreign-owned resource companies.

Financial corporations

Financial assets and liabilities

Authorised deposit-taking institutions (ADIs)

Financial assets

Liabilities

Total financial assets of ADIs decreased $99.4b, reflecting:

  • a $127.2b decrease in derivatives, and
  • a $26.5b decrease in deposits.

This was partly offset by:

  • a $31.2b increase in loans, and
  • a $23.7b increase in bonds.

ADIs recorded large settlements in derivatives and decreased their exchange settlement account balances with the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA). ADIs lending activity comprised lending to households and businesses.

Liabilities of ADIs decreased $118.9b, with:

  • a $98.5b decrease in derivatives, and
  • a $27.6b decrease in equities.

This was partially offset by continued strength in ADIs issuance of bonds. This quarter, ADIs issued:

  • $12.5b of bonds issued in Australia, and
  • $0.2b of bonds issued offshore.

Issuance of long-term debt securities was offset by:

  • an $8.8b maturity of one name paper issued in Australia, and
  • a $9.1b maturity of one name paper issued offshore.

Pension (superannuation) funds

Financial assets

Liabilities

Total financial assets of pension (superannuation funds) decreased by 1.3% (-$47.0b), with a:

  • $46.2b decrease in equities
  • $6.8b decrease in derivatives

This was partly offset by a:

  • $8.8b increase in bonds

Heightened uncertainty in domestic and international share markets drove valuation losses of $56.1b on the equity investments of pension funds. Pension funds used households' contributions to superannuation to acquire $6.8b in bonds, mainly issued by the rest of the world. Pension funds invested $15.5b in domestic equity and divested $5.6b of overseas equity.

Government

National general government financial assets

National general government liabilities

State and local general government financial assets

State and local general government liabilities

General government

General government (national, and state) were net borrowers of $19.0b. This was driven by a:

  • $25.1b net issuance of bonds
  • $12.2b net issuance of one name paper
  • $8.4b borrowing of loans

Partly offset by:

  • $38.3b placed in deposits
  • $8.6b acquired in equities

National general government were net borrowers of $9.3b. The national general government's net borrowing position was driven by a:

  • $25.1b net issuance of bonds
  • $12.2b net issuance of one name paper

Partly offset by:

  • $39.7b placed in deposits

The March quarter saw the highest demand for credit by the Commonwealth government since the September quarter 2020. This was mainly driven by additional issuances of bonds and one name paper following large maturities of COVID-19 era bond liabilities in the December quarter.

State and local general government were net borrowers of $9.7b. The state and local general government's net borrowing position was mainly driven by:

  • $8.7b in loan borrowings

Loan liabilities of state and local general government reached record levels of $480.0b as state governments sourced funding for employee expenses, social benefits to households, and health and transport infrastructure projects.

  1. "Other" includes gold and special drawing rights, currency, bills of exchange, derivatives, shares and equity, unfunded superannuation and accounts payable/receivable.

Capital investment

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

Net lending (+) / borrowing (-)

Australia's net borrowing position fell by $1.7b to $14.9b this quarter.

This was driven by a:

  • $3.8b increase in net savings

Partly offset by a:

  • $3.6b increase in change in inventories.

National net borrowing as a proportion of GDP decreased this quarter, driven by a rise in net savings: 

  • Financial corporations' net lending decreased by $3.5b to $14.5b.
  • Non-financial corporations' net borrowing decreased by $8.5b to $7.8b.      
  • General government net borrowing increased by $4.2b to $31.2b.             
  • Households' net lending increased by $5.6b to $12.1b

Notable drivers included the following:

  • Financial corporations' net lending was driven by a decrease in net savings due to an increase in non-life insurance claims and a decrease in dividends receivable.
  • Non-financial corporations' net borrowing was driven by an increase in net savings from private non-financial corporations due to a decrease in dividends payable.
  • General government net borrowing was driven by a decrease in net savings from both national and state and local general government, and a decrease in net capital transfers from national general government.  
  • Households' net lending was driven by an increase in net savings due to increases in compensation of employees and social assistance benefits. 

Capital Investment

National capital investment decreased to 24.5% as a proportion of GDP, while increasing 0.7% in current price seasonally adjusted terms. 

Relative to GDP: 

  • Household capital investment remained at 8.0%
  • Non-financial corporations' capital investment fell to 11.9%
  • Financial corporations' capital investment remained at 0.6%
  • General government capital investment remained at 4.1%

In current price seasonally adjusted terms:

  • Non-financial corporations' capital investment increased, driven by an increase in private non-financial corporations.
  • General government capital investment increased, driven by an increase in state and local general government.

Data downloads

Time series spreadsheets

Data files

Previous catalogue number

This release previously used catalogue number 5232.0

Revisions and changes

Revisions in this issue

There have been revisions to previously published aggregates due to:

  • Quality assurance reviews affecting the published aggregates after March quarter 2023, 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.

AASB 17 accounting standard

The adoption of the AASB 17 accounting standard by the insurance industry has resulted in changes to reported data. Consequently, some of the estimates for life insurance corporations since the September quarter 2023 have been modelled. While these series continue to be published, users are advised to apply caution.

ABS Managed Funds publication

Following the conclusion of consultation with users and industry, the ABS has taken the decision to pause the ABS Managed Funds publication following the release of the December quarter 2023 issue. ABS survey data on public offer unit trusts will continue to be used in the compilation of associated sectors in the National Accounts: Finance and Wealth publication (tables 9 and 23). In this publication, adjustments are made to these sectors to account for scope and coverage, based on other counterparty information, though some underlying quality issues remain. Users are advised to apply caution when using these statistics and use the methodology and data quality notes when referencing any data points. For additional information please see the December quarter 2023 Managed Funds publication.

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