Australia: Goods and services expense (% of expense)

Key figures

What the numbers say

In 2022, Australia's goods and services expense (% of expense) rose 1.77 percentage points on 2021 (from 8.99% to 10.76%).

Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1992 to 2021), the average change was −0.56 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 4.02 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.6 standard deviations above that average, so it was an ordinary year: it sits within the range of normal year-to-year movement.

On record, the biggest yearly rise was 3.25 percentage points in 1998 and the biggest yearly fall was 21.42 percentage points in 1999. The numbers show how large and when, not why; for the cause, look at what happened in that country in those years.

From 2013 to 2022 there is no clear straight-line trend: a straight line explains less than 1% of the movement over 10 observed years, so the value is moving around more than it is heading anywhere.

Worked out from the yearly values above. How the checks work: standard deviation, z-scores and straight-line trends.

How it compares

In 2022, Australia had the 17th highest value of the 24 economies reporting that year. Higher is not always better: for some indicators the lowest value is the one to aim for. See the full ranking.

Closest to Australia in the 2022 ranking

• Ireland — 13th of 24: 14.35%
• Serbia — 14th of 24: 12.65%
• South Africa — 15th of 24: 11.49%
• Slovak Republic — 17th of 24: 9.66%
• Romania — 18th of 24: 8.98%
• Czechia — 19th of 24: 7.21%

What this measures

Goods and services include all government payments in exchange for goods and services used for the production of market and nonmarket goods and services. Use of goods and services for own account capital formation is excluded. This indicator is expressed as percentage of total expenses which is any decrease in net worth resulting from a transaction.

Limitations: For most countries central government finance data have been consolidated into one account, but for others only budgetary central government accounts are available. Countries reporting budgetary data are noted in the country metadata. Because budgetary accounts may not include all central government units (such as social security funds), they usually provide an incomplete picture. In federal states the central government accounts provide an incomplete view of total public finance. Data on government revenue and expense are collected by the IMF through questionnaires to member countries and by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

Regional and income-group figures are computed by the World Bank as a median.

All 33 values

Goods and services expense (% of expense) in nearby economies

• Cambodia — 15.05% (2023)
• Fiji — 17.36% (2023)
• Kiribati — 29.38% (2023)
• Korea, Rep. — 12.49% (2023)
• Lao PDR — 17.03% (2022)
• Macao SAR, China — 18.01% (2023)
• Malaysia — 11.57% (2023)
• Marshall Islands — 25.88% (2020)
• Micronesia, Fed. Sts. — 32.92% (2020)
• Mongolia — 11.79% (2021)

More public sector data for Australia

• Arms imports (SIPRI trend indicator values) — 826 million (2025)
• Military expenditure (current USD) — 35.33 billion (2025)
• Military expenditure (current LCU) — 54.81 billion (2025)
• Military expenditure (% of GDP) — 1.92% (2025)
• Arms exports (SIPRI trend indicator values) — 108 million (2025)
• Net investment in nonfinancial assets (current LCU) — 19.74 billion (2022)
• Net investment in nonfinancial assets (% of GDP) — 0.84% (2022)
• Net lending (+) / net borrowing (-) (current LCU) — -31.49 billion (2022)
• Net lending (+) / net borrowing (-) (% of GDP) — -1.35% (2022)

Reading data like this

• Where to find free public data, and how to check it before you trust it — 2 min read
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Questions people ask

What is Australia's goods and services expense (% of expense)?

10.76% in 2022, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 1990?

It is down 15.46 percentage points from 26.22% in 1990. The highest value was 30.64% in 1998 and the lowest 8.99% in 2021.

How does Australia rank?

17th highest of 24 economies with data for 2022.

Is the latest change in goods and services expense (% of expense) unusual for Australia?

In 2022, Australia's goods and services expense (% of expense) rose 1.77 percentage points on 2021 (from 8.99% to 10.76%). Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1992 to 2021), the average change was −0.56 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 4.02 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.6 standard deviations above that average, so it was an ordinary year: it sits within the range of normal year-to-year movement.

Source

World Bank, World Development Indicators, indicator GC.XPN.GSRV.ZS, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: Government Finance Statistics Yearbook and data files, International Monetary Fund (IMF) Figures are fetched from the World Bank API and refreshed monthly; see the series on data.worldbank.org. The full definition and method are in the World Bank's metadata glossary. Comparisons use the same World Bank release.

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