Looking back: nominal and real GDP growth

Image Source: Wikimedia Commons

In the lead-up to the 2013 Budget an issue that attracted much attention was the weakness of Australia’s nominal economy and the impact this would have on government revenue. For three consecutive quarters (June, September and December 2012), annual growth in nominal gross domestic product (GDP) was less than real GDP growth, the first time this had happened in at least the last 50 years. This short note uses the latest Australian Bureau of Statistics national accounts data to take another look at Australia’s nominal and real GDP growth story (figure 1).

 

Australia's credit rating

Following reports on Wednesday 27 February 2013 that credit rating agency Standard and Poor’s had maintained Australia’s AAA credit rating with a stable outlook, there has been renewed interest in Australia’s historical credit ratings. This FlagPost presents the historical changes to credit ratings in Australia, drawing from public reports and discussions in Hansard.

Economic growth and change in post GFC world: What’s hot and what’s cold in the Australian economy

Image source: www.sa.gov.au

Since the Global Financial Crisis (GFC) in 2008, the Australian economy has experienced a period of slower, more uncertain growth than it did in the years leading up to the crisis. During the four years leading up to the GFC, Australia’s economy grew between three and four per cent a year, in inflation adjusted terms, with an annual average growth rate of 3.4 per cent. Since then, growth has been as low as 1.6 per cent in 2007—08, and only topped three per cent in 2011—12. The annual average growth rate for this later period was 2.4 per cent; a full percentage point lower than the earlier period.

However, not all parts of the economy have performed equally over the last four years. Some industries have grown strongly, whilst others have contracted. This has brought about a certain degree of structural change within the economy in terms of the sorts of goods and services the country produces and types of workers it needs to produce them.