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
December 2024
Released
27/03/2025
  • Next Release 26/06/2025
    Australian National Accounts: Finance and Wealth, March 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
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Key statistics

  • Household wealth increased $143.6b (0.9%) to $16,951.8b.
  • Demand for credit was $92.1b.
  • Australia's net borrowing position decreased by $2.3b to $14.4b this quarter.
  • Capital investment as a proportion of GDP decreased to 24.7%. 

Main features

Financing resources and investment tables

Financial market summary table

Flow of funds diagrams

National investment

National investment increased by $14.9b to $179.7b in the December quarter.

  • General government investment increased by $3.7b to $29.3b, driven by rises in gross fixed capital formation for both state and local general government and national general government.
  • Non-financial corporations' investment increased by $6.4b to $87.0b, driven by rises in gross fixed capital formation for both private and public non-financial corporations.
  • Households' investment increased by $4.5b to $59.1b, driven by an increase in change in inventories.

Financial investment

Australia was a net borrower of $14.4b from rest of world (ROW). The main contributors were a:

  • $54.3b placement of deposits by ROW
  • $44.3b acquisition by ROW of debt securities issued by Australia
  • Partly offset by $46.3b in loans borrowed by ROW

Placements of deposits and loans borrowed by ROW largely reflected intra-group funding arrangements between Australian subsidiaries and offshore related parties. ROW acquired bonds and one name paper issued by banks, as banks continued to return towards traditional sources of funding following the end of the Term Funding Facility (TFF) in June 2024. ROW also continued to acquire bonds issued by government. 

Households

Households $44.3b net lending position was due to an $82.5b acquisition of assets, partly offset by a $38.2b incurrence of liabilities. The acquisition of assets was driven by:

  • $52.7b in deposits
  • $29.0b in net equity in superannuation

While liabilities were driven by:

  • $37.3b in loan borrowing

The rise in deposits was supported by income growth and government cost-of-living policy relief including stage 3 tax cuts and energy bill rebates. Contributions into pension funds rose year on year, reflecting legislative changes to compulsory superannuation contributions and strength in employment.

General government

General government’s $38.0b net borrowing position was due to a $39.9b disposal of financial assets partly offset by a $1.9b reduction in liabilities. The disposal of assets was driven by a:

  • $38.2b draw down of deposits
  • $5.7b disposal of debt securities

The reduction in liabilities was driven by a:

  • $23.3b net maturity of bonds
  • Partly offset by $17.8b in loan borrowing

The net maturity of government bonds in the December quarter was the largest on record as the Commonwealth Government began repaying debt issued during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic. Maturing debt placed additional pressure on the government's deposit balances. 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 $92.1b in the December quarter, of which:

  • other private non-financial corporations borrowed $43.3b
  • households borrowed $37.2b
  • general government repaid $0.3b

Credit market outstandings increased by $59.4b, comprised of demand for credit of $92.1b and was partly offset by revaluation losses of $32.8b. Holding losses on the shares of other private non-financial corporations were $28.8b, in line with a fall in equity prices on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX). Rising bond yields also resulted in holding losses on Commonwealth government bonds of $17.5b.

Other private non-financial corporations

Business credit growth continues to be driven by elevated levels of capital investment with progress on renewable and mining projects. Rising commodity prices and stronger export revenue in the December quarter was reflected in stronger reinvested earnings growth. Business financing activity comprised:

  • loan borrowings of $23.8b
  • equity raising of $19.9b
  • corporate bond issuance of $0.4b

General government

The December quarter saw the lowest demand for credit by the Commonwealth government since the series began in September 1988. The Commonwealth government repaid COVID-19 era bond liabilities which matured this quarter. State government demand for credit was driven by investment in health and transport infrastructure. General government financing activity comprised:

  • $20.1b in net maturities of bonds and one name paper issued by national general government
  • Partly offset by $17.3b in loan borrowings by state and local general government

Households

Housing credit growth increased from the previous quarter which reflected a lift in buyer activity and housing commitments during the Spring season. Household short term loan borrowings also increased in line with seasonally higher consumer spending in December quarters. Households borrowed: 

  • $36.9b in long term loans
  • $0.5b 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 0.9% ($143.6b) to $16,951.8b by the end of the December quarter. The increase in net worth was driven by growth in deposit balances and superannuation assets.

Non-financial assets

Non-financial assets owned by households increased by 0.4% ($49.7b). The value of residential land and dwellings had a small rise, up $24.6b or 0.2 per cent during the quarter. This added 0.1 percentage points to the growth in household wealth. A rise in the number of dwellings was partly offset by a 0.2 percent fall in house prices.

Financial assets

Financial assets of households increased by 1.8% ($139.3b), with a:

  • $56.7b rise in currency and deposits
  • $55.2b rise in superannuation reserves
  • $30.3b rise in shares and other equity 

Total deposits increased by 3.2%. Transferable deposit account balances rose $40.2b. Other deposit accounts (which include term deposit and savings accounts) rose $15.6b.

Liabilities

Household liabilities increased by 1.4% ($45.4b), with a: 

  • $36.2b rise in housing loans
  • $8.8b rise in loans from the rest of the world

The growth in housing loans was driven by demand from both owner occupiers and investors, while the increase in non-resident loans was driven by the depreciation of the Australian dollar.

Private non-financial corporations

Financial assets

Liabilities

Other private non-financial corporations demand for credit

Other private non-financial corporations demand for credit of $43.3b was driven by:

  • $23.8b of loan borrowings
  • $19.9b of equity raising

The debt-to-equity ratio (adjusted for price changes) remains unchanged at 0.60. This reflects private non-financial corporations sourcing funds through both debt and equity.

The growth in firm's loan borrowing was driven by loans from ADIs and used to fund their investment.

Firms' equity increased, driven by strong reinvested earnings due to an increase in commodity prices. 

Financial corporations

Financial assets and liabilities

Authorised deposit-taking institutions (ADIs)

Financial assets

Liabilities

Total financial assets of ADIs increased $269.2b, reflecting:

  • a $122.3b increase in loans
  • a $109.4b increase in derivatives
  • a $17.6b increase in deposits

Strong upward revaluations to derivatives was the result of a sharp depreciation of the Australian dollar. ADIs also saw an uptick in offshore lending and increased their exchange settlement account balances with the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) this quarter.

Liabilities of ADIs grew $289.0b, with:

  • a $137.2b increase in deposits, and
  • a $63.7b increase in derivatives

ADIs also continued to return to traditional funding arrangements following the final maturity of the TFF in June 2024, issuing: 

  • $19.5b of one name paper issued offshore
  • $11.9b of bonds issued in Australia
  • $8.0b of bonds issued offshore

Issuance of debt securities was partly offset by:

  • a $17.7b net maturity of one name paper issued in Australia

Pension (superannuation) funds

Financial assets

Liabilities

Total financial assets of pension (superannuation funds) increased by 2.3% ($79.8b), with a:

  • $94.3b increase in equities
  • $3.3b increase in deposits

This was partly offset by a:

  • $7.9b decrease in derivatives
  • $6.6b decrease in short term debt securities

Pension funds favoured equity assets over fixed income assets this quarter, acquiring $15.1b in overseas equity and disposing of $7.6b in debt securities. Revaluation gains of $70.0b in equities reflect a rise in the value of unlisted shares. Whilst domestic share markets were subdued, overseas share values grew due to the depreciation of the Australian dollar.

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 $38.0b. This was driven by a:

  • $38.2b decrease in deposits
  • $17.8b borrowing of loans
  • $5.3b issuance of one name paper

Partly offset by a:

  • $23.3b net maturity of bond liabilities

National general government were net borrowers of $14.0b. The national general government's net borrowing position was driven by a:

  • $34.5b decrease in deposits
  • $4.9b issuance of one name paper

Partly offset by a:

  • $25.0b net maturity of bond liabilities

The December quarter saw the lowest demand for credit by Commonwealth government since the series began in September 1988. This was mainly driven by the maturity of early pandemic era debt issuances and follows high demand for credit in the September quarter.

State and local general government were net borrowers of $24.0b. The state and local general government's net borrowing position was mainly driven by:

  • $17.4b in loan borrowings

Loan liabilities of state and local general government reached record levels of $471.3b 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 $1.3b to $12.7b this quarter.

This was driven by a:

  • $1.0b decrease in change in inventories
  • $0.2b decrease in acquisitions less disposals of non-produced non-financial assets

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

  • Financial corporations' net lending increased by $4.8b to $19.3b.
  • Non-financial corporations' net borrowing increased by $4.2b to $15.1b.
  • General government net borrowing increased by $3.8b to $27.2b.
  • Households' net lending increased by $1.6b to $6.6b.

Notable drivers included the following: 

  • Financial corporations' net lending was driven by an increase in net savings due to increases in reinvested earnings and interest receivable.
  • Non-financial corporations' net borrowing was driven by an increase in changes in inventories from private non-financial corporations, including rises in retail trade, mining, and wholesale trade.
  • Households' net lending was driven by an increase in net savings and an increase in consumption of fixed capital.

Capital Investment

National capital investment decreased to 24.7% as a proportion of GDP, while increasing 1.3% in current price seasonally adjusted terms. 

Relative to GDP: 

  • Household capital investment fell to 7.9%
  • Non-financial corporations' capital investment remained at 12.0%
  • Financial corporations' capital investment remained at 0.6%
  • General government capital investment fell to 4.1%

In current price seasonally adjusted terms:

  • Non-financial corporations' capital investment increased, driven by an increase in public non-financial corporations.
  • General government capital investment was flat, driven by an increase in national general government being offset by a decrease 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 December quarter 2022, 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. The ABS is working with data providers to resolve these issues as quickly as possible. 

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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