Australian National Accounts: National Income, Expenditure and Product

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Quarterly estimates of key economic flows in Australia, including gross domestic product (GDP), consumption, investment, income and saving

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Reference period
March 2022
Released
1/06/2022
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Key statistics

  • The Australian economy rose 0.8% in seasonally adjusted chain volume measures
  • In nominal terms, GDP rose 3.7%
  • The terms of trade rose 5.9%
  • Household saving ratio decreased to 11.4% from 13.4%

In this release

For a breakdown of key information from this and other recent economic releases, see ‘12 things that happened in the Australian economy in March quarter 2022'.

This quarter's National Accounts includes the following articles:

Economic overview

Unless otherwise stated all figures are in seasonally adjusted, chain volume measures.

The reference year for chain volume measures is 2019-20.

For more information about the changes in this issue, please see revisions and changes on this page.

March key figures, percentage changes (a)

 Dec 20 to Mar 21Mar 21 to Jun 21Jun 21 to Sep 21Sep 21 to Dec 21Dec 21 to Mar 22Through the year, Mar 21 to Mar 22
Chain volume GDP and related measures (b)
 GDP1.80.8-1.83.60.83.3
 GDP per capita (c)1.80.6-1.83.50.32.5
 Gross value added market sector (d)1.91.4-1.63.60.74.2
 Real net national disposable income3.42.5-4.02.61.42.4
Productivity
 GDP per hour worked0.8-1.13.1-0.81.72.8
 Real unit labour costs0.3-0.1-0.8-2.0-2.7
Prices
 GDP chain price index (original)3.13.40.2-0.64.98.2
 Terms of trade7.78.0-0.5-4.95.98.3
Current price measures
 GDP3.83.2-0.63.53.710.2
 Household saving ratio13.811.819.713.411.4na

na not available
a. Change on preceding quarter, except for the last column which shows the change between the current quarter and the corresponding quarter of the previous year. Excludes Household saving ratio.
b. Reference year for chain volume measures and real income measures is 2019-20.
c. Population estimates are as published in the National, state and territory population (cat. no. 3101.0) and ABS projections.
d. ANZSIC divisions A to N, R and S. See Glossary - Market sector.

Australian economy rose 0.8% in the March quarter 2022

Gross Domestic Product (GDP) rose 0.8% this quarter, following a rise of 3.6% in December. In contrast to previous COVID-19 strains, there was continued growth in economic activity through the peak of the Omicron variant outbreak.

Severe weather events in New South Wales, Queensland and South Australia during the quarter affected supply chains and dampened activity in some industries. For further information on the impacts of these events, see Weather and natural disaster impacts on the Australian national accounts.

Price pressures build across the economy

Nominal GDP rose 3.7%. The GDP implicit price deflator increased 2.9%, the fastest rate since March quarter 1988.

The terms of trade rose 5.9%, with export (+9.6%) and import prices (+3.5%) both up strongly. Strong demand for Australia's mining and agricultural commodities amidst supply constraints in other producing nations contributed to the rise in export prices.

The domestic final demand implicit price deflator rose 1.4%. This was the strongest growth since the introduction of the Goods and Services Tax, reflecting high levels of demand and increased input costs.

Commodity prices drive Mining profits

Gross operating surplus plus gross mixed income (GOSMI) rose 3.4%. Mining operating surplus rose 14.7%, reflecting strong growth in commodity prices, particularly coal and iron ore. Exports of mining commodities rose 10.5% in current price terms.

Non-Mining operating surplus fell 0.1%, driven by a decline in COVID-19 subsidies paid to businesses. This was partly offset by increased activity across industries such as Transport, Postal and Warehousing, Wholesale Trade and Arts and Recreation Services.

Services industries drive an increase in gross value added

Gross value added rose 0.5%. Improvements in operating conditions and the labour market drove increased demand for business services, particularly Professional, Scientific and Technical Services (+3.1%).

Rises in hospitality and other related service industries were driven by eased restrictions, including the reopening of domestic and international borders. Transport, Postal and Warehousing (+4.3%), Accommodation and Food Services (+3.7%) and Arts and Recreation Services (+4.4%) all rose.

This was partly offset by Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing (-5.8%), which came off a bumper harvest in the December quarter.

Domestic demand remains strong

Domestic final demand contributed 1.6 percentage points to GDP growth. Household final consumption expenditure contributed 0.8 percentage points. Government consumption contributed 0.6 percentage points, driven by increased health expenditure. The government's response to the floods in NSW and QLD also contributed to the rise.

Net trade detracted 1.7 percentage points, driven by the strongest rise in imports since December quarter 2009. The increase in imports reflected the arrival of delayed shipments and inventory rebuilding by businesses closer to pre-pandemic levels. Changes in inventories contributed 1.0 percentage point and partly offset the detraction from imports.

a. Contributions may not be additive due to rounding.

Continued growth in household spending

Household spending rose 1.5% this quarter.

Spending on discretionary goods and services increased 4.3%, exceeding pre-pandemic levels for the first time. The reopening of domestic and international borders contributed to rises in transport services (+60.0%), recreation and culture (+4.8%) and hotels, cafes and restaurants (+5.3%). Purchase of vehicles rose 13.0% as supply constraints eased.

Essential spending declined 0.2%. Expenditure on food declined 2.0%, reflecting the continued shift towards eating out as restrictions eased. Spending on health also fell as elective surgeries and visits to health practitioners were cancelled as Omicron cases increased.

Household saving ratio declines as consumption opportunities increase

The household saving ratio declined from 13.4% to 11.4%, remaining above pre-pandemic levels.

Household saving fell as the rise in household spending outpaced growth in gross disposable income. Household gross disposable income rose 0.6% with growth in labour (COE) and non-labour income partly offset by an increase in income payable.

Non-labour income was driven by non-life insurance claims (+18.6%). Households received $2.8 billion in non-life insurance claims related to floods, adding 0.8 percentage points to the saving-to-income ratio. This was partly offset by a decline in support payments from government as restrictions eased.

The increase in income payable reflected higher income tax payable, consistent with strong labour market outcomes.

Continued growth in COE despite falls in hours worked

COE rose 1.8% this quarter. Employed persons rose 1.9%, while hours worked fell 0.9% due to Omicron-related absenteeism. 

Private sector COE rose 2.3%. Wage pressures continued to build from skilled labour shortages, resulting in businesses paying more to attract and retain staff. 

Public COE rose 0.1%, remaining up strongly through the year.

Expenditure

 % Change% Change% points contribution to growth in GDP
Dec 21 to Mar 22Mar 21 to Mar 22Dec 21 to Mar 22
Final consumption expenditure   
 General government2.78.30.6
 Households1.54.00.8
 Total final consumption expenditure1.95.21.4
Gross fixed capital formation   
 Private   
  Dwellings-1.0-1.3-0.1
  Ownership transfer costs-1.47.7-
  Non-dwelling construction-0.24.0-
  Machinery and equipment3.61.90.1
  Cultivated biological resources0.63.0-
  Intellectual property products1.58.2-
 Public1.75.30.1
 Total gross fixed capital formation0.73.30.2
Changes in inventoriesnana1.0
Gross national expenditure2.65.42.5
Exports of goods and services-0.9-4.2-0.2
Imports of goods and services8.17.6-1.5
Statistical discrepancy (E)nana-0.1
Gross domestic product0.83.30.8

- nil or rounded to zero (including null cells)
na not available

Final consumption expenditure (FCE) 1.9%

Gross fixed capital formation (GFCF) 0.7%

Changes in inventories

Exports and imports of goods and services

Income

Income estimates are in seasonally adjusted current prices

 % Change% Change% points contribution to growth in GDP
Dec 21 to Mar 22Mar 21 to Mar 22Dec 21 to Mar 22
Compensation of employees1.85.50.8
Gross operating surplus   
 Private non-financial corporations7.321.61.6
 Other (a)1.24.50.1
Gross mixed income-2.78.1-0.2
Taxes less subsidies on production and imports15.724.01.4
Statistical discrepancy (I)nana-
Gross domestic product3.710.23.7

- nil or rounded to zero (including null cells)
na not available
a. Includes Public non-financial corporations, Financial corporations, General government and Dwellings owned by persons.

Compensation of employees (COE) 1.8%

Gross operating surplus (GOS) 4.8%

Taxes less subsidies on production and imports 15.7%

Production

 % Change% Change% points contribution to growth in GDP
Dec 21 to Mar 22Mar 21 to Mar 22Dec 21 to Mar 22
Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing-5.810.2-0.2
Mining-1.5-2.0-0.1
Manufacturing1.13.20.1
Electricity, Gas, Water and Waste Services0.92.4-
Construction0.24.2-
Wholesale Trade3.22.30.1
Retail Trade0.84.8-
Accommodation and Food Services3.7-0.50.1
Transport, Postal and Warehousing4.38.30.2
Information Media and Telecommunications1.210.2-
Financial and Insurance Services0.73.10.1
Rental, Hiring and Real Estate Services-1.81.1-0.1
Professional, Scientific and Technical Services3.18.70.2
Administrative and Support Services0.511.1-
Public Administration and Safety0.22.9-
Education and Training0.41.5-
Health Care and Social Assistance-0.95.1-0.1
Arts and Recreation Services4.47.3-
Other Services-0.23.3-
Ownership of dwellings0.41.8-
Taxes less subsidies on products3.0-1.10.2
Statistical discrepancy (P)nana0.1
Gross domestic product0.83.30.8

- nil or rounded to zero (including null cells)
na not available

Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing -5.8%

Mining -1.5%

Manufacturing 1.1%

Electricity, Gas, Water and Waste Services 0.9%

Construction 0.2%

Wholesale Trade 3.2%

Retail Trade 0.8%

Accommodation and Food Services 3.7%

Transport, Postal and Warehousing 4.3%

Information Media and Telecommunications 1.2%

Financial and Insurance Services 0.7%

Rental, Hiring and Real Estate Services -1.8%

Professional, Scientific and Technical Services 3.1%

Administrative and Support Services 0.5%

Health Care and Social Assistance -0.9%

Arts and Recreation Services 4.4%

Other Services -0.2%

State and territory final demand

 Percentage change from Dec 21 to Mar 22
NSWVic.QldSAWATas.NTACTAust.(a)
Final consumption expenditure         
 General government2.12.43.21.15.33.46.21.72.7
 Households1.92.70.40.90.0-0.5-0.13.01.5
Gross fixed capital formation         
 Private-1.12.2-2.00.33.2-6.7-1.7-2.20.5
 Public-1.31.63.81.08.3-2.89.11.71.7
State final demand1.22.40.80.82.2-0.62.21.71.6

- nil or rounded to zero (including null cells)
a. Australia estimates relate to Domestic final demand.

Quarterly volume measures, seasonally adjusted

The map shows quarterly volume measures of state final demand by state/territory.
New South Wales' state final demand increased 1.2% for the quarter.
Victoria's state final demand increased 2.4% for the quarter.
Queensland's state final demand increased 0.8% for the quarter.
South Australia's state final demand increased 0.8% for the quarter.
Western Australia's state final demand increased 2.2% for the quarter.
Tasmania's state final demand decreased 0.6% for the quarter.
Northern Territory's state final demand increased 2.2% for the quarter.
Australian Capital Territory's state final demand increased 1.7% for the quarter.

New South Wales 1.2%

Victoria 2.4%

Queensland 0.8%

South Australia 0.8%

Western Australia 2.2%

Tasmania -0.6%

Northern Territory 2.2%

Australian Capital Territory 1.7%

Key tables

Key national accounts aggregates

Analytical expenditure aggregates

Expenditure aggregates

Expenditure on GDP

Household final consumption expenditure

Industry gross value added

Income from GDP

State final demand

Related releases

Monthly Household Spending Indicator, March 2022

The March 2022 issue of Monthly Household Spending Indicator was released on 23 May 2022. The experimental Monthly Household Spending Indicator is derived using aggregated, de-identified banks transactions data from some of Australia’s banking and financial institutions. The ABS transforms the banks transactions data in order to derive the Monthly Household Spending Indicator. As this data is not designed for statistical purposes, its scope varies from Australian National Accounts concept of household final consumption expenditure (HFCE) and the Retail Trade turnover estimates for retail businesses. The indicator should be considered experimental at this stage, as further enhancement to the transformation processes and methodology are expected in the future.

Australian National Accounts: Input-Output Tables (cat. no. 5209.0.55.001)

The 2019-20 issue of Australian National Accounts: Input-Output Tables was released on 27 May 2022. This product provides detailed information about the supply and use of products in the Australian economy and the structure of, and inter-relationships between, Australian industries. It presents information on input by industry and output by product group, use of domestic production, imports by industry and final demand categories, taxes and margins on supply by product, and industry and product concordances.

Australian National Accounts: Input-Output Tables (Product Details) (cat. no. 5215.0.55.001)

The 2019-20 issue of Australian National Accounts: Input-Output Tables (Product Details) was released on 27 May 2022. It provides details regarding Australian production, imports, intermediate usage, final usage, exports, margins and taxes less subsidies on products and margins for each Input-Output product. There are over 900 Input-Output products classified to the industry from which each originates such as agriculture, manufacturing and construction.

Australian National Accounts: Finance and Wealth (cat. no. 5232.0)

The March quarter 2022 issue of Australian National Accounts: Finance and Wealth will be released on 23 June 2022. This publication provides quarterly estimates of the financial flows between sectors of the domestic economy and with the rest of the world. This publication also provides estimates of the financial assets and liabilities owned by each sector and various sub-sectors at the end of each quarter. Other key estimates within the publication include the demand for credit by non-financial domestic institutional sectors during the quarter, and their corresponding levels of credit outstanding.

Revisions and changes

Revisions in this issue

There are revisions in this issue due to the incorporation of more up-to-date data and concurrent seasonal adjustment. 

Investigations into export prices for coal and LNG

The ABS is aware that since December quarter 2021 there have been differences between the Export Price Index (EPI) and Implicit Price Deflators (IPDs) for Coal (Coal, coke & briquettes) and LNG (Other mineral fuels). With the current price volatility of bulk commodities and ongoing global uncertainty, the March quarter National Accounts and Balance of Payments volumes for Coal and LNG exports have been compiled using movements in the quantity data reported on Customs declarations. The ABS is undertaking further analysis on Coal and LNG export prices and will communicate the outcomes of the analysis in the next International Trade Price Index publication.

Suspension of trend estimates

Due to the impacts of COVID-19 on the economy, trend estimates for all series in the National Accounts have been suspended from June 2019 (inclusive). In the short term, this measurement will be significantly affected by changes to regular patterns in economic activity. If trend estimates were to be calculated without fully accounting for this unusual event, they would likely provide a misleading view of the underlying trend in the economy.

Extraordinary Annual Seasonal Review (EASR)

In the March quarter 2020 issue of Australian National Accounts: National Income, Expenditure and Product, the ABS advised that the method used to produce seasonally adjusted estimates would be changed from the ‘concurrent’ method to the ‘forward factors’ method for series with significant and prolonged impacts from COVID-19. 

Given the large changes in the Australian economy during the COVID-19 period and the continuing use of a forward factors approach to seasonal adjustment, the ABS has undertaken an extensive annual review of seasonally adjusted series. This review changed a range of time series treatments to ensure that the seasonal adjustment process continues to be less influenced by the large irregular movements over the past year. Revisions to most seasonally adjusted series are relatively minor, but larger than would be observed on a quarterly basis through the use of concurrent seasonal adjustment. 

For some series, the review has allowed a return to concurrent seasonal adjustment, where economic conditions are assessed to have returned to pre COVID-19 patterns. For the remaining series where this is not the case, forward factors have been calculated for the next 12 months through this annual process.

Data downloads

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Time series spreadsheets

Data files

Data cubes

Experimental food consumption estimates using scanner data

A datacube with experimental estimates of household final consumption expenditure on food compiled using supermarket scanner data has been included in this Data downloads section.

The ABS plans to replace existing estimates of food consumption with scanner data based estimates in September quarter 2022. If you have any questions or feedback about these changes, please contact National Accounts.

Experimental HFCE Food Estimates, current price and volume, COICOP Group, SUPC and IOPC, Original

Data files
Download xlsx [92.8 KB]

Previous catalogue number

This release previously used catalogue number 5206.0.
 

Methodology

Australian National Accounts: National Income, Expenditure and Product methodology, March 2022

Articles

Media releases