GDP in detail: Stuck in the slow lane

Wednesday 4 March 2015

As summarised earlier, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) today released the national accounts for the December quarter, which registered a 0.5% increase in real GDP over the quarter and a 2.5% rise over the year. The result just missed market expectations of 0.6% growth over the quarter and 2.5% growth over the year.

On a per capita basis, real GDP rose by just 0.2% and was up by only 1.1% over the year. More importantly for living standards, real national disposable income per capita was unchanged over the quarter and was down 0.9% over the year.

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About the author

Leith van Onselen is Chief Economist at the MB Fund and MB Super. He is also a co-founder of MacroBusiness. Leith has previously worked at the Australian Treasury, Victorian Treasury and Goldman Sachs.