Real GDP, Australia

Real GDP is the total value of goods and services produced in Australia, measured in chain volume terms to remove the effect of price changes, as published by the Australian Bureau of Statistics in the quarterly national accounts. The series here is seasonally adjusted and appears about two months after each quarter ends.

It is the official measure of the size and growth of the Australian economy. The RBA uses it to judge how much spare capacity is left and whether its policy is slowing or supporting demand, and it underlies estimates of the tax base and of debt relative to income. For banks, it frames the outlook for lending and loan losses.

Two features of the data shape how to read it. Chain volume measures mean the components of GDP do not add up exactly to the total in years away from the reference year. And Australia's population has grown quickly, especially through migration, so total GDP can rise while output per person falls; in 2023 and 2024 GDP per capita declined for several quarters even as headline GDP grew. Mining exports also swing with global commodity demand, which can move Australian GDP more than the domestic economy alone would. Past quarters are revised as new data arrive.

Real GDP is at its highest since the series starts in Q1 2006. Within ten years, real GDP beats 100% of readings.

Gross domestic product, chain volume measures, seasonally adjusted.

ABS publishes real GDP quarterly in Australian National Accounts (5206.0), in AUD (chain volume) and is seasonally adjusted. Code: ABS,ANA_AGG,1.0.0:M1.GPM.20.AUS.Q. Method for real GDP.