Household debt in Australia will have risen in 2020, especially following the COVID-19 situation.
However, in the last quarter of 2019, Household Debt in Australia decreased to 119.50 percent of GDP.
The chart below shows Household Debt as almost 200% of Annual Household Disposable Income. (the blue line in this chart)
However, Household Assets should really be look at when looking at Household Debt.
Why? Assume you borrow a million dollars and buy a million dollars in shares or property. Your debt has suddenly risen by $1 million. But is it real debt, if you could sell those shares immediately and pay it back?
Josh Frydenberg, the Treasurer of Australia, speaking on Household debt, stated that “household assets are about four to five times as to what household debt is”.
The ABS has quoted: “Household wealth per capita increased $12,809 to $442,705, in the December quarter 2019.”
Therefore the NET household Assets/Debt must be in the region of $300,000 in credit per capita.