National Accounts
AUSTRALIA’S real, seasonally adjusted Gross Domestic Product increased by 3.2 per cent through the year to March 2004, but growth in the March quarter slowed to just 0.2 per cent. Private consumption and an increase in inventories were the drivers of expenditure growth in the quarter, with dwelling investment, business investment and public sector demand all decreasing. Domestic demand (which excludes inventories and net trade) rose by 5.2 per cent through the year and 0.2 per cent over the quarter. Changes in trade volumes detracted 1.4 percentage points from GDP growth over the quarter, with weak export growth more than offset by import growth.
WA's real domestic demand increased by 8.2 per cent in seasonally adjusted terms in the four quarters to March 2004. However, demand growth slowed to just 0.3 per cent between December and March, dragged down by a drop in business investment and government investment. Unlike the rest of Australia, WA recorded strong growth in dwelling investment and an improvement in its trade balance over the March quarter.
WA's demand growth through the year to March was stronger than in the larger states, but below that of Tasmania (8.9 per cent) and the Northern Territory (12.3 per cent).
Source: ABS Cat. 5206.0