Household and business balance sheets [E1]

E1 HOUSEHOLD AND BUSINESS BALANCE SHEETS

Household and business assets and liabilities data are from ABS Cat No 5232.0.

The household sector includes unincorporated enterprises.

The business sector refers to the ABS sector classification of 'Private non-financial corporations'.

‘Consumer durables’ are tangible assets, other than dwellings, that generally have a life of a year or more. These include motor vehicles, furnishings and other household equipment.

‘Reserves of life offices and pension funds’ are equal to total assets of life offices, superannuation funds and friendly societies, less liabilities of these institutions other than to policyholders and fund members. Ownership of these net assets is imputed to the household sector.

Total household non-financial assets refers to the total of household dwellings, residential land and consumer durables. Total household assets refers to the total of household non-financial and financial assets. These totals differ from the ABS definitions of total household non-financial assets and total household assets in ABS Cat No 5232.0.

Household net worth is total household assets less total household liabilities.

Assets, liabilities, and net worth are measured as stocks at the end of the quarter.

From September quarter 2011, the stock of dwellings data have come from ABS Cat No 6416.0. Prior to this, RBA estimates based on the ABS census and dwelling completions data are used.