Fiscal position over time
How Queensland’s fiscal position has moved across the 2025-26 cycle: the June Budget forecast, the audited prior-year outcome (Report on State Finances), and the December Mid-Year Fiscal and Economic Review.
Forward trajectory
Budget forecast vs the revised mid-year path across the forward estimates.
Deficit (below zero) narrows across the forward estimates.
General Government net debt, end of financial year.
Did the numbers land?
How the audited 2024-25 outcome compared to what was originally budgeted for that year.
Where the money comes from and goes
General Government sector, Mid-Year Fiscal and Economic Review 2025-26.
Revenue
$91.1B- Taxation$27.5B
- GST$16.8B
- Grants (other Cwlth)$23.8B
- Royalties & land rents$7.4B
- Sales of goods & services$8.1B
- Other (interest, dividends, other)$7.5B
Expenses
$100.1B- Employee expenses$38.4B
- Other operating expenses$27.2B
- Grants & subsidies$19.3B
- Superannuation$5.3B
- Depreciation & amortisation$6.4B
- Interest$3.5B
Fiscal position over time
Key General Government aggregates at each reference point.
| Metric | 2025-26 Budget | 2024-25 Actual | 2025-26 Revised | Change since budget |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $91.3B | $89.0B | $91.1B | -$235M |
| Expenses | $99.9B | $93.4B | $100.1B | +$152M |
| Net operating balance | -$8.6B | -$4.4B | -$9.0B | -$387M |
| Net debt | $41.8B | $16.7B | $38.7B | -$3.1B |
| Capital program | $116.8B | $11.3B | $117.9B | +$1.1B |
The 2024-25 Actual column is the audited outcome of the previous financial year — shown for context, not as a like-for-like comparison with the 2025-26 figures. Capital program bases differ between documents (four-year Non-financial Public Sector program at budget and MYFER; single-year General Government purchases in the Report on State Finances) — see each figure’s basis note below.
Report on State Finances 2024-25
Audited actual outcome2024-25 · as at 30 June 2025 · compared to 2024-25 Budget estimate · published 2025-10-15 by Queensland Treasury
Queensland's General Government Sector recorded a 2024-25 operating deficit of $4.428 billion, $1.797 billion larger than the original Budget estimate as expenses grew faster than revenue, while net debt finished $10.680 billion lower than budgeted at $16.727 billion.
Economic outlook
| Indicator | At budget | Updated |
|---|---|---|
| Real Gross State Product per capita growth (%) | — | 0.5 |
| General Government revenue growth (year-on-year) (%) | — | -0.9 |
| General Government expenses growth (year-on-year) (%) | — | 6.1 |
What changed
The General Government operating deficit was $4.428 billion, $1.797 billion larger than the $2.631 billion deficit forecast in the original 2024-25 Budget, because expenses rose $2.656 billion above Budget while revenue rose only $859 million.
RoSF 2024-25, p.86
General Government net debt finished the year at $16.727 billion, $10.680 billion lower than the $27.407 billion projected in the original 2024-25 Budget, reflecting lower borrowing, higher cash balances and better-than-expected market valuations of the State's long-term investments.
RoSF 2024-25, p.87
Other revenue (which includes royalties) was $521 million below Budget and $4.903 billion lower than the previous year, mainly due to lower coal export volumes and prices as commodity prices moderated from the elevated levels of prior years.
RoSF 2024-25, p.89
Employee expenses were $930 million (3%) higher than the original Budget, predominantly driven by growth in health employee numbers to meet service demand; total full-time equivalent staff rose 4.8% over the year.
RoSF 2024-25, p.89
General Government purchases of non-financial assets were $1.509 billion (12%) below the original Budget, reflecting the timing of infrastructure project delivery and work completed but not yet paid for at year end.
RoSF 2024-25, p.90
Grants revenue was $980 million (2%) above the original Budget, due to a larger national GST pool and higher National Partnership payments for road infrastructure and Better and Fairer Schools funding.
RoSF 2024-25, p.89
General Government net worth was $355.427 billion at 30 June 2025, $39.854 billion above the original Budget, predominantly due to upward valuations of land under roads, road infrastructure and public housing.
RoSF 2024-25, p.87
Mid-Year Fiscal and Economic Review 2025-26
Revised forecast2025-26 · as at December 2025 · compared to 2025-26 Budget (June 2025) · published 2025-12 by Queensland Treasury
At the mid-year review the 2025-26 General Government operating deficit is forecast to be slightly larger than at budget ($9.0 billion versus $8.6 billion) as wages and expense measures lift costs, while net debt is now expected to be about $3.1 billion lower than budgeted on the back of a stronger 2024-25 result.
Economic outlook
| Indicator | At budget | Updated |
|---|---|---|
| Gross State Product growth (%) | 2¾ | 2¾ |
| Employment growth (%) | 1½ | 1½ |
| Inflation (CPI) (%) | 3¼ | 4↑ |
| Wage Price Index growth (%) | 3½ | 3¾↑ |
| Unemployment rate (%) | 4¼ | 4¼ |
What changed
The 2025-26 General Government net operating deficit is now forecast at $8.968 billion, $387 million larger than the $8.581 billion estimated at budget. The revision reflects funding for improved wages and conditions through enterprise bargaining and expense measures taken since the budget, with revisions to key revenues broadly neutral.
MYFER 2025-26, p.5
General Government net debt is now expected to be $38.713 billion by 30 June 2026, $3.090 billion lower than anticipated at budget, largely due to lower than projected net debt in the 2024-25 outcome. The General Government net debt to revenue ratio improves to 42% in 2025-26 (from 46% at budget).
MYFER 2025-26, p.13
Royalty revenue is forecast at $7.228 billion in 2025-26, $754 million (9.5%) lower than the budget estimate, driven by a stronger Australian dollar, weak near-term coal and petroleum prices, and a downgrade to coal volumes from operational issues including disruptions at two mines.
MYFER 2025-26, p.9
Taxation revenue is forecast at $27.472 billion in 2025-26, $565 million (2.1%) above the budget estimate, driven mainly by transfer duty on robust dwelling and non-residential property activity, with payroll tax also revised up.
MYFER 2025-26, p.7
Queensland's GST revenue is estimated at $16.802 billion in 2025-26, $177 million (1.1%) higher than at budget on a larger national pool, but nearly $2.3 billion lower than in 2024-25, described as the largest single-year adverse GST redistribution in history.
MYFER 2025-26, p.9
A stronger than expected September quarter 2025 inflation result has seen Brisbane CPI growth for 2025-26 revised up to 4% (year-average), from 3¼% at budget, before easing to 2¾% in 2026-27. This is expected to partly flow through to wages, with the Wage Price Index now forecast to grow 3¾% in 2025-26.
MYFER 2025-26, p.3
The Queensland economy is still forecast to grow 2¾% in 2025-26 and 2½% in 2026-27, unchanged from budget, as the net impacts of developments since budget (lower-than-feared US tariff effects, faster consumer spending, weaker coal export volumes) largely offset each other.
MYFER 2025-26, p.3
The four-year NFPS capital program rises to $117.921 billion, a $1.081 billion increase over the budget estimate, largely from upward revisions to disaster recovery works and capital grants to support the future of Mount Isa and North-West Queensland.
MYFER 2025-26, p.14
The Boost to Buy shared equity scheme is expanded, with the government's investment doubling to $330 million and available places increasing to up to 2,000. Applications open from 15 December 2025, with up to 250 of the first 500 places reserved for regional Queenslanders.
MYFER 2025-26, p.4
Movements in coal prices, volumes and the exchange rate present ongoing uncertainty for royalty revenue, with risks to the global outlook tilted to the downside; coal royalties represent over three quarters of expected total royalties across the four years to 2028-29.
MYFER 2025-26, p.29
Source documents
Factual information from published QLD Treasury fiscal documents. Figures are General Government sector unless otherwise noted in each basis line.