Australia rejoins the global economic elite

As Alan Austin reports, fourth quarter 2025 results confirm Australia’s economy is again among the best in the world.

Gloomy days as Australia’s economic growth falters at the bottom OECD The tables are finished. Bureau of Statistics (ABSs) last Wednesday reported Quarterly growth in gross domestic product (GDP) was 0.8% and annual growth was 2.6%; Both are excellent results considering global conditions.

Annual average growth In the fourth quarter, the rate for all 38 advanced OECD members was 1.86%, with Australia ranked tenth in this group. This is it from 31st place towards the end of the bleak period. morrison period.

This is still way below first place Global Financial Crisis When Wayne Swan He was the Treasurer and coincidentally the current Treasurer Jim Chalmers He was his chief advisor. But the economy is on a good track.

National accounts confirm sound policy

Most of last week’s quarterly figures show the economy is improving in strength and resilience, is steadily becoming fairer, and should be close to, if not already in the global top five.

Australia has achieved positive GDP growth for 17 consecutive quarters, one of only four OECD members to achieve this. The others are Belgium, Costa Rica and Spain.

The amount of national income paid to workers last year reached $1,393.1 billion, up 6.6% from 2024 and a healthy 23.6% increase from 2022 BC, before Chalmers.

The share of total national income going to employees increased from 49.0% in 2022 to 53.9% currently.

In parallel, the amount of national income going to corporate profits decreased from $723.3 billion to $699.0 billion in 2022. The share of national income from profit was 27.1% last year, down from 33.1% in 2022.

Jobs and wages are good

of Australia labor In 2025, it increased by 191,300 to 15,312,600. Total jobs increased by 166,200 to 14,686,000; The unemployment rate was 4.09%. The number of months in which unemployment was below 4.5 percent rose to a record 50.

OECD of Australia arrangement The unemployment ranking rises from ninth to eighth in 2025, just ahead of Iceland.

The youth unemployment rate decreased slightly from 9.06% to 8.98%. Work participation fell from 67.1% to 66.7% as more younger workers remained in school and older workers retired.

Poverty decreased further when the weekly minimum wage was increased lifted From $915.90 to $948.00.

Average fees It grew by 3.44% compared to 3.22% in the previous year. Inflation It was slightly above wage increases at 3.76% throughout the year. But over the past three years, wages have still advanced well ahead of prices.

Household gross disposable income rose It rose 7.6% from $1,647.1 billion to $1,771.6 billion in 2025, confirming observations of a retail spending boom in 2025.

Total consumer spending $923.6 billion in 2025, with retail spending on goods reaching an all-time high of $485.8 billion.

Total retail sales as a percentage of GDP reached a record high of 17.7%, confirming that the Coalition’s cost of living crisis is well behind us.

Real net disposable income per capita augmented It rose marginally to $77,510, up 0.17% from the previous year.

The rich are still doing well

This column highlighted that: Albanian The government’s priority is to alleviate poverty and homelessness here, here, here and here. The latest data also supports this. New private sector capital expenditure Spending on buildings increases 4.0% to $190.3 billion in 2025. See the table below.

Despite the cut in national income that goes to corporate profits mentioned above, poverty reduction has not come at the undue expense of the wealthy.

Analysis of all data from national accounts and last week’s ABS report Data on private businesses shows that companies are still profitable, albeit in a more challenging global environment.

Some company profits have been affected by the severe decline in prices of many commodities. For example iron ore trade It traded above $185 per ton in late 2023 and early 2024 and traded above $280 in 2021. It remained below $150 for most of 2025.

From here, profit In the mining sector, it was lower than in recent years. This doesn’t mean miners are losing their jobs and investors are going bankrupt. This means that recent super profits have adjusted to more normal levels.

Elsewhere, profits ranged from satisfactory to excellent. Gross operating profit in accommodation and food services increased 10.3% to $6.78 billion; 7.5% increase in wholesale and retail sales to 68.9 billion dollars; an increase of 9.8% in transportation, mail and storage to $36.1 billion; In arts and entertainment services, it increased by 12.5% to 4.83 billion dollars. No bad.

Gross operating profit in mining fell 7.9% but still remained at a significant $197.9 billion.

Total gross operating profit across all sectors fell 1.1% to $514.1 billion, while all sectors except mining increased 3.7% to a record $316.2 billion. See the table below.

Productivity is humming along nicely

Official figures in last week’s accounts show productivity stagnant at 100.1 index points; this is well below 2020 pre-COVID levels. But we know from wage increases, rising profits, a boom in consumer spending and impressive GDP growth that real productivity must rise significantly.

These latest results strengthen the arguments for Jim Chalmers’ productivity round table Last August, it was revealed that the formula used by the ABS and others to measure productivity was outdated.

optimistic result

Australia currently has the world’s only economy with an unemployment rate and inflation below 4.2% and average wealth per adult above US$250,000 (AU$355,000).

It is also the only economy with a triple-A credit rating, interest rates below 4%, and uninterrupted growth in gross domestic product (GDP) for the last four years.

Have you seen the six medals won at the Winter Olympics, including three gold?

This could be a wonderful little country if citizens understood these truths.

Alan Austin is an Independent Australian columnist and freelance journalist. You can follow him on Twitter @alanaustin001 and Bluesky @alanaustin.bsky.social.

Support independent journalism Subscribe to IA.