The Gold Coast Bulletin

Australian­s getting richer – but so is the taxman

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THE lack of a decent pay rise has not stopped Australian­s becoming richer, data shows.

But the ways in which we earn and spend money have changed markedly over the decades, with taxes accounting for a much greater share.

Households in Australia now have an average net wealth of more than $1 million and individual net wealth of about $400,000, according to IbisWorld’s Phil Ruthven.

“Australia’s average household income puts us in the top dozen nations, if tiny nations and principali­ties such as Lichtenste­in and Brunei are excluded,” Mr Ruthven said.

“An average income of over $160,000 per household for our 9.75 million households is impressive.”

But in the 1950s, 6.8 per cent of spending was in taxes. Now it’s 14.3 per cent.

About 4 per cent was spent on entertainm­ent in the 1950s compared to almost 7 per cent now.

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