Interest payments in Australia

Australia: Interest payments was 3.0% in 2022. ▼ Falling

Latest (2022)
3.0%
Change on year
up 15.7%
World rank
113th
of 152 countries
All-time high
10.8%
in 1987
All-time low
1.4%
in 2009
Years of data
51
1972–2022

Interest payments in Australia, 1972–2022

246810197219972022

Source: Government Finance Statistics Yearbook and data files, International Monetary Fund (IMF). Measured in % of expense.

Analysis

In 2022, interest payments in Australia stood at 3.0%.

The figure is up 15.7% on the previous year and down 10.3% over ten years.

Over the whole period, interest payments in Australia peaked at 10.8% in 1987 and was at its lowest, 1.4%, in 2009.

That places Australia 113th out of 152 countries with data for 2022, putting it in the middle of the range.

The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 51 years of available data.

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1970s 6.5% 4.9% 7.6% 8
1980s 8.5% 7.0% 10.8% 10
1990s 6.6% 4.9% 8.3% 10
2000s 2.5% 1.4% 6.6% 10
2010s 3.2% 2.0% 3.7% 10
2020s 2.8% 2.6% 3.0% 3

Countries ranked near Australia

  1. 110 Czechia 3.1% compare
  2. 111 Malta 3.1% compare
  3. 112 Cyprus 3.1% compare
  4. 114 New Zealand 3.0% compare
  5. 115 Vanuatu 3.0% compare
  6. 116 Uzbekistan 2.9% compare

See the full ranking of 193 places →

More public sector data for Australia

All data for Australia →

Frequently asked questions

What is interest payments in Australia?
Interest payments in Australia was 3.0% in 2022, according to Government Finance Statistics Yearbook and data files, International Monetary Fund (IMF).
What is the highest interest payments recorded in Australia?
The highest recorded value was 10.8% in 1987.
What is the lowest interest payments recorded in Australia?
The lowest recorded value was 1.4% in 2009.
How does Australia rank for interest payments?
Australia ranks 113th out of 152 countries with data for 2022.
Is interest payments rising or falling in Australia?
Over the last ten years it is down 10.3%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
Where does this Australia data come from?
The figures come from Government Finance Statistics Yearbook and data files, International Monetary Fund (IMF), published as part of Interest payments (% of expense). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

Download this data

CSV · JSON — 51 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).

About this data

Indicator
Interest payments (% of expense)
Unit
% of expense
Source
Government Finance Statistics Yearbook and data files, International Monetary Fund (IMF)
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data)
Coverage
193 places, 5,277 data points, 1972–2024
Last refreshed

Interest payments include interest payments on government debt (including long-term bonds, long-term loans, and other debt instruments) to domestic and foreign residents. This indicator is expressed as percentage of total expenses which is any decrease in net worth resulting from a transaction.