NATIONAL WEALTH

Between June 1998 and June 2008, Australia's real net worth per person rose at an average annual rate of 0.9%.

ABOUT THIS INDICATOR

National wealth and national income are very closely related. Along with the skills of the work force, a nation's wealth has a major effect on its capacity to generate income. Produced assets (such as machinery and equipment) are used in income-generating economic activity. Income, in turn, provides for saving to enable the accumulation of new wealth. The headline indicator, 'real national net worth per person' has features that make it an informative indicator of national progress.

• It is a net measure - it shows the amount by which Australia's assets exceed its liabilities to the rest of the world.
• It is a per person measure - total wealth could rise if the population grew, even though there may have been no improvement in Australians' average wealth. This measure excludes the impact of population changes.
• It is a real measure - it is adjusted to remove the effects of price change.

The headline indicator, however, does not take account of everything that might be regarded as valuable. For example, it does not include some aspects of natural capital such as native forests and other natural assets not used for economic production; human capital (e.g. knowledge and skills); or social capital (e.g. social networks and trust).

SEE ALSO

State and territory spreadsheets
National wealth - Measures of Australia's Progress, 2006
Themes - National Accounts

ENDNOTES

1. Real national net worth is based on a volume measure with reference year of 2006-07.

LINK TO THE DETAILED SUMMARY