WEALTH IN AUSTRALIA.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 19217, 5 January 1926, Page 12

WEALTH IN AUSTRALIA.

PROPORTION PER CAPITA. NEW SOUTH WALES RICHEST. [prom our own correspondent.] SYDNEY. Dec. 31. The average Australian man, woman and child has possessions amounting in value to practically £4OO. A new table in the 1925 Commonwealth Year Book reveals that £397 was the figure for 1921. Though Mr. Wickens, trie Commonwealth statistician, does not say so, it is apparent that if children are left out of tfie reckoning the average wealth of adult Australians is well over £7OO. The total figures of private wealth in 1921, was £2,165,861,000, of which by tar the largest part consisted of land and improvements, valued at £1,361,269,000. Other big items were: Live stocJc, £153,833,000; furniture, books and pictures, £108,780,000; and locally manufactured products. £104,835,000. / A table of average private wealth shows that from £328 in 1890, it feu to £238 in 1899, remained about that figure till 1903, and rose to £325 in 1915. The increase from 1915 to 1921 is, however, merely apparent. Reference to the table of household expenditure shows that the purchasing power of the pound declined by over 30 per cent., and on tliat basis £397 in 1921 represented only as many goods as £272 in 1914, which would mean a decline of 16 per cent, in average wealth in the seven years, 1914-21. A further interesting point is that the proportion of the whole, represented by land and improvements, decreased from 1915 to 1921, while there were proportionate increases in live stock, furniture, etc., and merchandise and produce, which was 9 per cent, of the total on the earlier occasion, and had risen to 12 per cent, by 1921. New South Wales is the richest State per head with £421. Victoria follows -.vith £4OB, then Western Australia £3Bl, South Australia £366, Queensland £356 and Tasmania £319. If the Territories aro included the Northern Territory has a very long lead, with £BB9, more than double the figure for 1915. If the total wealth of the whole coun--try is to be estimated, Government and municipal property must be added to private possessions. The proportion of private to public wealth is aibout 3 to 1, approximately the same as that shown by the figures for Great Britain. The total public wealth is £657,000,000, which, added to the figures of private goods gives a grand total of nearly £2,843,000,000. Divided among the population as it stood in 1921 this yields a of just on £520.