Last month, Michael Read at The AFR published the below chart, based on OECD data, showing that Australia experienced the largest decline in real per capita household disposable income of any advanced economy over the 2022-23 financial year:
“In the 12 months to June, Australian household incomes slumped 5.1%, the sharpest fall recorded across the OECD”, Read wrote.
“The decline means Australian real household incomes are now just 18% higher than in 2007, compared with 22 per cent across the OECD as a whole”, Read said.
Last week’s September quarter national accounts from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) were an unmitigated disaster for Australian households.
The national accounts showed that Australia’s real per capita household disposable income plunged by a record 5.8% in the year to September 2023:
This took real per capita household disposable income back to around December 2011’s level:
Justin Fabo from Antipodean Macro has published a new report which includes the below chart comparing the change in real gross household disposable income across various developed nations:
As you can see, the decline in Australia’s gross household income has been particularly severe, with Australia’s gross income growth only tracking above the UK since 2019.
If the above chart was adjusted for population growth, the situation would be even worse and would likely show Australian per capita household income growth tracking below the other nations.
The situation facing Australian households will continue to worsen, given housing debt servicing costs were already at record highs before last month’s 0.25% interest rate hike from the RBA:
Australian households are also likely to experience rising unemployment next year as labour supply outpaces job growth:
As a result, Australians face a sustained deterioration in living standards in the midst of a deep per capita recession, declining real earnings, skyrocketing mortgage repayments and rents, and overburdened housing, infrastructure, and services.
This economic turd cannot be polished by Albo’s or Jim Chalmers’ propaganda.
