Australian National Accounts: Capital Stock

NAME OF ORGANISATION
Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS)

OVERVIEW
Australian National Accounts: Capital Stock (5221.0) contains annual estimates of consumption of fixed capital, gross and net capital stock and gross fixed capital expenditure, at both current and average 1989-90 prices, cross-classified by industry, asset type and institutional sector. Also included are gross and net rates of return on capital classified by industry division and by private and public trading enterprises.

PURPOSE
To provide a detailed statement of Australia's stock of produced assets owned by private enterprises and the public sector, and dwellings owned by households. Together, these assets form an important part of the nation's wealth. The publication shows how the level of these assets has changed over time - their rate of accumulation and their rate of being used up.

SCOPE
Private enterprises, by industry for non-dwelling construction and equipment; public trading enterprises, by industry for non-dwelling construction and equipment; private enterprises, public enterprises and general government by type of asset. Assets split into dwellings, non-dwelling construction, equipment and real estate transfer expenses.

DATA DETAIL

Conceptual framework
The estimates of capital stock and consumption of fixed capital are prepared using the perpetual inventory method (PIM). Estimates of gross capital stock are derived by accumulating past investment flows and deducting the estimated value of retirements from the stock. Estimates of consumption of fixed capital, and hence net capital stock, are derived using a depreciation function based on the expected economic life of the various assets.

Main outputs
Gross fixed capital expenditure, end-year gross capital stock, end-year net capital stock, and consumption of fixed capital; all at current and constant prices.
Summary tables by institutional sector.
Summary tables by type of asset.
Private enterprises, by industry for non-dwelling construction and equipment.
Public trading enterprises by industry for non-dwelling construction and equipment.
Rates of return on capital, by industry.

Classifications
Industry (ANZSIC division).
Institutional sector (private corporate trading enterprises, private financial enterprises, unincorporated enterprises and dwellings owned by persons, public trading enterprises, public financial enterprises, and general government).
Type of asset (dwellings, non-dwelling construction, equipment, real estate transfer expenses)

Other concepts (summary)
The PIM depends on estimates of gross fixed capital expenditure (GFCE) and price indexes over many years, and on assumptions about mean asset lives, asset life distributions, and depreciation patterns.

GEOGRAPHIC DETAIL
Australia

Comments and/or Other Regions


COLLECTION FREQUENCY
Annually

Frequency comments
no comment

COLLECTION HISTORY
The first edition of the publication was in respect of 1985-86. This was preceded by two occasional papers: Studies in National Accounting: Current-Cost and Constant-Cost Depreciation and Net Capital stock- Cherylee Bailey (1981/1); and Estimates of Depreciation and Capital Stock, Australia - R. Walters and R. Dippelsman (1985/1). The final edition was in respect of 1995-96.

DATA AVAILABILITY
Yes