Fiscal sustainability

Resilient and sustainable nation

Metric

All Australia general government sector net debt (L2) as a proportion of GDP

Why this matters

Fiscal sustainability improves the economic wellbeing of Australians by supporting a strong and stable economy and ensuring the sustained provision of essential government services. A sustainable fiscal position enables government to respond to changes in economic conditions and buffer the economy and our people against adverse shocks.

Progress

In 2022-23, all Australia general government net debt (L2) was 30.6% of GDP. It has:

fallen from 33.4% in 2021-22
risen from 17.6% in 2013-14.

All Australia general government sector net debt (L2) (a) as a proportion of GDP (b)
	All Australia general government sector net debt (L2) as a proportion of GDP (%)
2013-14	17.6
2014-15	20.6
2015-16	23.5
2016-17	23.0
2017-18	23.7
2018-19	24.5
2019-20	32.0
2020-21	37.8
2021-22	33.4
2022-23	30.6

All Australia general government sector net debt (L2) (a) as a proportion of GDP (b)

["","All Australia general government sector net debt (L2) as a proportion of GDP"]

[["2013-14","2014-15","2015-16","2016-17","2017-18","2018-19","2019-20","2020-21","2021-22","2022-23"],[[17.600000000000001],[20.600000000000001],[23.5],[23],[23.699999999999999],[24.5],[32],[37.799999999999997],[33.399999999999999],[30.600000000000001]]]

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L2 debt is comparable to government reporting of net debt under the Uniform Presentation Framework
Using the GDP annual, current prices series as published in Table 36 in the December quarter 2023 issue of Australian National Accounts: National Income, Expenditure and Product.

Data Source

ABS Government Finance Statistics, Annual - All Australia general government se…