• Summary
• Downloads
• Explanatory Notes
• Related Information
• Past Releases

Introduction

1 This publication contains detailed national accounts estimates for the latest nine financial years. Estimates are provided for gross domestic product (GDP) and its components, the national income account, the national capital account, the national financial account and the national balance sheet. Income, capital and financial accounts and a balance sheet are provided for each sector of the economy. Also provided is a range of information classified by industry, details of capital formation (including capital stocks) and productivity statistics. For a list of the statistics included in this publication, see the List of Tables. For a description of the Australian system of national accounts, see Appendix 1.

2 The full time series for the statistics in this publication are available on AusStats, the ABS on-line data service. For the key aggregates, information is available back to 1959-60.

3 Official estimates of national income and expenditure have been compiled by the ABS since 1945, when estimates were published for the years 1938-39 to 1944-45. Until 1993 they were published annually as papers entitled National Income and Expenditure issued by the Treasurer with the Commonwealth Government Budget Papers.

4 In 1963 a number of important changes in the structure and presentation of the national accounts and in the conceptual basis and definitions of the principal aggregates were introduced in a new annual publication entitled Australian National Accounts: National Income and Expenditure, 1948-49 to 1961-62 (cat.no.5204.0). Constant price estimates of the principal expenditure aggregates were presented for the first time.

5 In Australian National Accounts: National Income and Expenditure, 1971-72 (cat.no.5204.0), published in 1973, the structure of the accounts was revised to accord more closely to the international standard described in the United Nations publication A System of National Accounts (1968).

6 In the 1997-98 issue of 5204.0, which was renamed the Australian System of National Accounts, a number of changes were introduced, including the implementation of a revised international standard for national accounting (entitled System of National Accounts, 1993 (SNA93)), the replacement of constant price estimates by chain volume measures and the integration of the national income, expenditure and product accounts with the input-output tables. Also, the scope of the publication was expanded to include balance sheets, capital stock and multifactor productivity statistics. Previously, these statistics had been published in separate publications.

7 SNA93 was produced by five international organisations involved in the use of economic statistics and the promotion of international statistical standards: United Nations, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, International Monetary Fund, World Bank and Commission of the European Communities.

Concepts, definitions, sources and methods

8 A revised version of Australian System of National Accounts: Concepts, Sources and Methods (cat.no.5216.0) was released in December 2000 and is available on the ABS web site <https://www.abs.gov.au> (starting at the home page select: Statistics-About Statistics-Concepts and classifications-ABS concepts, sources, methods and statistical frameworks-5216.0). Extensive revisions were required to reflect the implementation of SNA93 in the Australian national accounts and other changes to sources and methods which have occurred over recent years. 5216.0 outlines major concepts and definitions, describes sources of data and methods used to derive annual and quarterly estimates for major aggregates at current prices and in chain volume terms, and discusses the accuracy and reliability of the national accounts. In addition, it includes documentation on input-output tables, financial accounts, capital stock, productivity measures, balance sheets, and state accounts. For detailed information about the nature and extent of the conceptual changes introduced with the implementation of SNA93 reference should be made to the following information papers: Implementation of Revised International Standards in the Australian National Accounts (cat.no.5251.0), Introduction of Chain Volume Measures in the Australian National Accounts (cat.no.5248.0), and Upgraded Australian National Accounts, 1998 (cat.no.5253.0).

9 Brief definitions and descriptions of items in the national accounts are shown in the Glossary. Appendix1 provides information about the conceptual framework of the national accounts and about the structure of the Australian system of national accounts.

Chain volume measures

10 Consistent with SNA93 recommendations, the ABS replaced its constant price estimates with annually-reweighted chain Laspeyres volume measures in the 1997-98 issue of this publication. In general, chain volume measures provide better indicators of movement in real output and expenditure than do constant price estimates because they take account of changes in price relativities that occur between one year and the next. A full discussion of the concepts and methods underlying ABS chain volume measures is contained in 5248.0.

11 Generally, chain volume measures are not additive. In other words, in general, component chain volume measures do not sum to a total in the way original current price components do. In order to minimise the impact of this property, the ABS uses the year preceding the latest year as the reference year. This means that the chain volume measures are additive in the reference year and the latest year. A change in the reference year changes levels but not growth rates, although some revision to recent growth rates can be expected because of the introduction of a more recent base year (and revisions to the current price estimates and price deflators underlying the chain volume measures).

A single measure of gross domestic product

12 There are three approaches which can be used to measure gross domestic product (GDP).

• The income approach (I), which involves summing factor incomes, consumption of fixed capital (depreciation) and taxes less subsidies on production and imports.

• The expenditure approach (E), which involves summing all final expenditures, changes in inventories and exports less imports of goods and services.

• The production approach (P), which involves taking the value of goods and services produced by an industry (i.e. output) and deducting the cost of goods and services used up by the industry in the production process (i.e. intermediate consumption). If output is measured at basic prices, as it is in the Australian national accounts, then taxes less subsidies on products must be added to obtain GDP at market prices.

• there is no statistical discrepancy for annual estimates from 1994-95 up to the year prior to the latest year, in either current price or chain volume terms; and

• for years prior to 1994-95, and the latest year, statistical discrepancies exist between estimates based on the I, E and P approaches and the single estimate of GDP, in both current prices and chain volume terms. These discrepancies are shown in the relevant tables.