Forecast Table – August 2023

This table provides additional detail on forecasts of key macroeconomic variables as at the August 2023 Statement on Monetary Policy.

Table 1: Forecast Table – August 2023(a)
Percentage change over year to quarter shown(b)
  Jun 2023 Dec 2023 Jun 2024 Dec 2024 Jun 2025 Dec 2025
Gross domestic product 1.6 0.9 1.3 1.6 2.0 2.3
Household consumption 1.6 1.3 1.9 2.4 2.5 2.6
Dwelling investment −1.8 −2.5 −0.9 1.4 3.5 3.3
Business investment 5.2 3.4 −0.1 0.0 1.0 1.8
Public demand 1.3 1.9 1.7 1.5 2.2 3.0
Gross national expenditure 1.2 1.2 1.7 1.9 2.1 2.5
Imports 4.5 7.2 4.9 4.1 3.8 4.0
Exports 7.8 5.7 2.4 2.5 2.9 2.7
Real household disposable income −2.9 −0.1 0.4 2.1 3.7 3.3
Terms of trade −8.8 −5.0 −3.6 −2.6 −3.0 −2.6
Major trading partner (export-weighted) GDP 3.9 3.7 3.2 3.0 3.3 3.1
Unemployment rate (quarterly, %) 3.6 3.9 4.2 4.4 4.5 4.5
Employment 3.2 2.3 1.2 1.0 1.1 1.3
Wage price index 3.7 4.1 4.0 3.8 3.7 3.6
Nominal (non-farm) average earnings per hour 4.9 6.5 5.0 4.4 4.1 3.7
Trimmed mean inflation 5.9 3.9 3.3 3.1 2.9 2.8
Consumer price index 6.0 4.1 3.6 3.3 3.1 2.8

(a) Forecasts finalised 2 August. The forecasts are conditioned on a path for the cash rate broadly in line with expectations derived from surveys of professional economists and financial market pricing. Other forecast assumptions: TWI at 61; A$ at US$0.66; Brent crude oil price at US$80bbl. The rate of population growth has been revised higher in the near-term but is expected to gradually decline to around its pre-pandemic average.
(b) Forecasts are rounded to the first decimal point. Shading indicates historical data.

Sources: ABS; CEIC Data; Consensus Economics; Refinitiv; RBA.