Mineral rents in Australia
Australia: Mineral rents was 10.5% in 2021. ◆ Volatile
Mineral rents in Australia, 1970–2021
Source: The Changing Wealth of Nations, World Bank (WB). Measured in % of GDP.
Analysis
In 2021, mineral rents in Australia stood at 10.5%. That is the highest value across all 52 years on record.
That represents a change of up 156.0% on the previous year and up 108.1% over ten years.
Over the whole period, mineral rents in Australia peaked at 10.5% in 2021 and was at its lowest, 0.8%, in 2003.
That places Australia 12th out of 212 countries with data for 2021, putting it in the top 10%.
The series is highly variable year to year, so single readings are best treated with caution.
Mineral rents in Australia, year by year
| Year | % of GDP | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1970 | 1.5% | — |
| 1971 | 1.4% | -4.0% |
| 1972 | 1.3% | -6.9% |
| 1973 | 1.8% | +40.5% |
| 1974 | 2.1% | +13.3% |
| 1975 | 1.6% | -22.2% |
| 1976 | 2.0% | +19.8% |
| 1977 | 2.0% | +3.4% |
| 1978 | 1.5% | -24.6% |
| 1979 | 1.8% | +17.0% |
| 1980 | 2.0% | +12.0% |
| 1981 | 1.3% | -32.4% |
| 1982 | 1.3% | -0.7% |
| 1983 | 1.2% | -6.9% |
| 1984 | 1.3% | +8.2% |
| 1985 | 1.5% | +12.7% |
| 1986 | 1.3% | -14.9% |
| 1987 | 1.4% | +9.8% |
| 1988 | 2.8% | +98.3% |
| 1989 | 1.5% | -46.1% |
| 1990 | 1.5% | -0.3% |
| 1991 | 1.3% | -16.0% |
| 1992 | 1.2% | -5.7% |
| 1993 | 0.9% | -21.6% |
| 1994 | 0.9% | +0.7% |
| 1995 | 0.9% | -8.7% |
| 1996 | 0.8% | -4.5% |
| 1997 | 0.8% | -6.6% |
| 1998 | 1.0% | +33.2% |
| 1999 | 0.9% | -12.0% |
| 2000 | 0.9% | +4.7% |
| 2001 | 1.1% | +21.7% |
| 2002 | 1.0% | -10.6% |
| 2003 | 0.8% | -26.3% |
| 2004 | 0.9% | +19.3% |
| 2005 | 1.9% | +110.8% |
| 2006 | 2.8% | +47.4% |
| 2007 | 4.3% | +51.6% |
| 2008 | 4.1% | -3.0% |
| 2009 | 2.4% | -42.4% |
| 2010 | 4.9% | +104.3% |
| 2011 | 5.0% | +3.6% |
| 2012 | 3.0% | -39.4% |
| 2013 | 3.6% | +16.7% |
| 2014 | 2.9% | -17.9% |
| 2015 | 1.9% | -36.5% |
| 2016 | 2.6% | +39.8% |
| 2017 | 3.2% | +23.1% |
| 2018 | 2.9% | -10.2% |
| 2019 | 3.3% | +16.0% |
| 2020 | 4.1% | +23.2% |
| 2021 | 10.5% | +156.0% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 1.7% | 1.3% | 2.1% | 10 |
| 1980s | 1.6% | 1.2% | 2.8% | 10 |
| 1990s | 1.0% | 0.8% | 1.5% | 10 |
| 2000s | 2.0% | 0.8% | 4.3% | 10 |
| 2010s | 3.3% | 1.9% | 5.0% | 10 |
| 2020s | 7.3% | 4.1% | 10.5% | 2 |
Countries ranked near Australia
- 9 Papua New Guinea 14.4% compare
- 10 Peru 12.1% compare
- 11 Kyrgyzstan 11.2% compare
- 13 Mauritania 9.6% compare
- 14 Guyana 9.4% compare
- 15 Kazakhstan 9.1% compare
More energy & mining data for Australia
- Fossil fuel consumption by fuel, per unit of GDP 0 terawatt-hours per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Primary energy use, annual growth rate -0.4235 % change on previous year (2025)
- Coal consumption, per capita 0 terawatt-hours per person (2025)
- Coal consumption, per unit of GDP 0 terawatt-hours per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Primary energy use, per unit of GDP 0 terawatt-hours per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Primary energy use, per capita 0.0001 terawatt-hours per person (2025)
- Coal production, per capita 0.0001 terawatt-hours per person (2025)
- Coal production, per unit of GDP 0 terawatt-hours per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Fossil fuel consumption by fuel, per capita 0 terawatt-hours per person (2025)
- Fuel imports 11.7% (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is mineral rents in Australia?
- Mineral rents in Australia was 10.5% in 2021, according to The Changing Wealth of Nations, World Bank (WB).
- What is the highest mineral rents recorded in Australia?
- The highest recorded value was 10.5% in 2021.
- What is the lowest mineral rents recorded in Australia?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.8% in 2003.
- How does Australia rank for mineral rents?
- Australia ranks 12th out of 212 countries with data for 2021.
- Is mineral rents rising or falling in Australia?
- Over the last ten years it is up 108.1%. The long-run trend across the full record is volatile.
- Where does this Australia data come from?
- The figures come from The Changing Wealth of Nations, World Bank (WB), published as part of Mineral rents (% of GDP). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 52 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).
About this data
Mineral rents are the difference between the value of production for a stock of minerals at world prices and their total costs of production. Minerals included in the calculation are tin, gold, lead, zinc, iron, copper, nickel, silver, bauxite, and phosphate.