The G20 needs to go structural, social, and green! With fiscal and monetary policy room nearly exhausted, structural reforms are the best choices, sometimes the only choice. The OECD battle cry in this regard has been unchanged since 2008: “go structural!”.

Each G20 presidency faces its own challenges. A presidency must respond to global economic conditions, it must build on previous work, and it must seize opportunities to progress with reforms where members can reach consensus.

Mr. Angel Gurría was in Brisbane to attend the G20 Leaders' Summit on 15-16 November. Prior to the Summit, the Secretary-General attended a G20 Finance Ministers Meeting, as well as L20 and B20 meetings.

Going for Growth 2015: Country note for Australia

Levels of alcohol consumption in Australia are close to the OECD average. After a decrease from 1980 to 1992, consumption has rebounded to some extent. In 2011, 10 litres of pure alcohol per capita were consumed in Australia, on average, compared with an estimate of 9.5 litres in 2011 in the OECD.

In a boost for international efforts to strengthen co-operation against offshore tax evasion, seven new countries have joined the agreement to exchange information automatically under the OECD/G20 standard.

Australia performs well in terms of overall population health status. At 82.2 years, life expectancy is the sixth highest in the OECD, and the country’s record on breast and colorectal cancer survival is among the best. Australia has one of the lowest rates of tobacco consumption (12.8% of the population aged 15 and over), but it is the fifth most obese country in the OECD (28.3% of the population aged 15 and over).

The recent mental health reform is an important step towards better services for people with mental ill-health, but Australia needs to do more to help people with mild to moderate mental health issues at and into work, according to a new OECD report.

In 2012, 20% of students in Australia were low performers in mathematics (OECD average: 23%), 14% were low performers in reading (OECD average: 18%), 14% were low performers in science (OECD average: 18%), and 9% were low performers in all three of these subjects (OECD average: 12%)

Australia should follow up on the reform of its vocational education system by improving quality control in the VET sector and step up career guidance for young people to boost young people’s job prospects and reduce the share of under-30-year-olds who are not in employment, education or training (NEETs), according to a new OECD report.

This country note provides an environmental tax and carbon pricing profile for Australia. It shows environmentally related tax revenues, taxes on energy use and effective carbon rates.

This country note presents student performance in science, reading and mathematics, and measures equity in education in Australia. The interactive charts allow you to compare results with other countries participating in the OECD Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA).

How can we build a global economy driven by innovation when half the population is missing out on the action? The short answer is, we can’t.

The city of Newcastle is fast emerging as a smart, liveable and sustainable city.

The Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes (the Global Forum) published today the first 10 outcomes of a new and enhanced peer review process aimed at assessing compliance with international standards for the exchange of information on request between tax authorities.

Selected findings for Australia from the report "The Pursuit of Gender Equality: An Uphill Battle"

Selected findings for Australia from the report "Preventing Ageing Unequally"

Key findings for Australia from the report "Pensions at a Glance 2017"

Australia’s active global engagement on development and its focus on fragile small island states and disaster risk reduction are commendable. However successive cuts to the country’s aid budget since 2013 are impairing its efforts, according to the latest DAC Peer Review of Australia.

This note presents marginal effective tax rates (METRs) that summarise the tax system’s impact on the incentives to make an additional investment in a particular type of savings. By comparing METRs on different types of household savings, we can gain insights into which assets or savings types receive the most favourable treatment from the tax system.

A Broken Social Elevator? Key findings for Australia

This country note for Australia provides detail on the proportion of CO2 emissions from energy use subject to different effective carbon rates (ECR), as well as on the level and components of average ECRs in each of the six economic sectors (road transport, off-road transport, industry, agriculture and fishing, residential & commercial, and electricity).

Resistance proportions for eight antibiotic-bacterium pairs in Australia have increased in recent years, from 7% in 2005 to 10% in 2015, and could go up to 12% by 2030, should current trends in antibiotic consumption, population and economic growth continue into the future. Resistance proportions in Australia were lower than the OECD average in 2015 (17%).

The Australian standard GST rate is 10.0%, which is below the OECD average. The average VAT/GST¹ standard rate in the OECD was 19.3% as of 1 January 2019. Australia has an extensive list of goods and services that are GST-free. GST was introduced in Australia in 2000 at a standard rate of 10.0% and has remained at this rate throughout.

About 36% of Australian jobs face a significant or high risk of automation. While this is less than the OECD average (46%), it means that a sizeable share of adults will need to upskill or retrain to meet the needs of future jobs.

Australia's tax-to-GDP ratio was 27.8% in 2016* (latest available data), below the OECD average (34.2%) by 6.4 percentage points, and above the LAC and Africa (21)* averages (22.8% and 18.2%, respectively).

Australia has one of the highest rates of obesity: nearly one in three adults are obese. As a result, Australians live on average 2.7 years less due to overweight. The impact on the economy is large: overweight accounts for 8.6% of health expenditure; and lowers labour market outputs by the equivalent of 371 thousand full time workers per year. Combined, this means that overweight reduces Australia’s GDP by 3.1%.

This country note explains how Australia taxes energy use. The note shows the distribution of effective energy tax rates across all domestic energy use. It also details the country-specific assumptions made when calculating effective energy tax rates and matching tax rates to the corresponding energy base.

Australia spends 9.3% of its GDP on health, slightly higher than the OECD average, and is projected to reach 13% by 2030. Australia also has more nurses (11.7 per 1000 people, compared to an OECD average of 8.8) and slightly more doctors (3.7 doctors versus an OECD average of 3.5) serving the population than in many OECD countries. These resources have contributed to good health outcomes.

Key findings for Australia from the report "Pensions at a Glance 2019"

The tax-to-GDP ratio in Australia increased by 0.9 percentage points from 27.6% in 2016 to 28.5% in 2017 (latest year available). The corresponding figures for the OECD average were a decrease of 0.2 percentage points from 34.4% to 34.2% over the same period.

The tax wedge for the average single worker in Australia decreased by 1.0 percentage point from 28.9 in 2018 to 27.9 in 2019. The OECD average tax wedge in 2019 was 36.0 (2018, 36.1). In 2019 Australia had the 30th lowest tax wedge among the 36 OECD member countries, occupying the same position in 2018.

Unemployment Rate in Angola increased to 31.80 percent in the fourth quarter of 2019 from 30.10 percent in the third quarter of 2019. Unemployment Rate in Angola averaged 26.68 percent from 2005 until 2019, reaching an all time high of 35 percent in the fourth quarter of 2005 and a record low of 19.90 percent in the fourth quarter of 2016. In Angola, the unemployment rate measures the number of people actively looking for a job as a percentage of the labour force. This page provides - Angola Unemployment Rate - actual values, historical data, forecast, chart, statistics, economic calendar and news.

Unemployment Rate in the United Kingdom increased to 4 percent in February from 3.90 percent in January of 2020. Unemployment Rate in the United Kingdom averaged 6.93 percent from 1971 until 2020, reaching an all time high of 12 percent in February of 1984 and a record low of 3.40 percent in November of 1973. In the United Kingdom, the unemployment rate measures the number of people actively looking for a job as a percentage of the labour force. This page provides the latest reported value for - United Kingdom Unemployment Rate - plus previous releases, historical high and low, short-term forecast and long-term prediction, economic calendar, survey consensus and news.

Ukraine is ranked 64 among 190 economies in the ease of doing business, according to the latest World Bank annual ratings. The rank of Ukraine improved to 64 in 2019 from 71 in 2018. Ease of Doing Business in Ukraine averaged 108.33 from 2008 until 2019, reaching an all time high of 152 in 2011 and a record low of 64 in 2019. The Ease of doing business index ranks countries against each other based on how the regulatory environment is conducive to business operationstronger protections of property rights. Economies with a high rank (1 to 20) have simpler and more friendly regulations for businesses. This page includes a chart with historical data for Ease of Doing Business in Ukraine.

Housing Index in Ukraine increased to 7.90 percent in the fourth quarter of 2019 from 6.40 percent in the third quarter of 2019. Housing Index in Ukraine averaged 5.58 percent from 2017 until 2019, reaching an all time high of 7.90 percent in the fourth quarter of 2019 and a record low of 2.20 percent in the first quarter of 2017. In Ukraine, Housing Index is measured by the annual change in the House Prices Index of New Housing. This page provides - Ukraine Housing Index- actual values, historical data, forecast, chart, statistics, economic calendar and news.

Standard & Poor's credit rating for Ukraine stands at B with stable outlook. Moody's credit rating for Ukraine was last set at Caa1 with positive outlook. Fitch's credit rating for Ukraine was last reported at B with stable outlook. In general, a credit rating is used by sovereign wealth funds, pension funds and other investors to gauge the credit worthiness of Ukraine thus having a big impact on the country's borrowing costs. This page includes the government debt credit rating for Ukraine as reported by major credit rating agencies.

The transportation sub-index of the CPI basket in the United Kingdom decreased to 111.80 points in March of 2020 from 112.40 points in February of 2020. CPI Transportation in the United Kingdom averaged 75.85 points from 1988 until 2020, reaching an all time high of 114.90 points in August of 2019 and a record low of 40.40 points in February of 1988. This page provides - United Kingdom Cpi Transportation- actual values, historical data, forecast, chart, statistics, economic calendar and news.

This country note provides information on latest trends in income inequalities as well as key findings from the 2011 OECD report "Divided We Stand: Why Inequality Keeps Rising".

This note is taken from Chapter 2 of Economic Policy Reforms: Going for Growth 2012.

The labour market recovery in Japan began strongly but has weakened since.

Gains in female education attainment have contributed to a worldwide increase in women’s participation in the labour force, but considerable gaps remain in working hours, conditions of employment and earnings.  More specific data for Japan are available in this country note.

Global economic activity is picking up, but the continuing crisis in the euro area is delaying a meaningful recovery, the OECD said in its latest Interim Economic Assessment.

A moderate recovery is underway in the major advanced economies, according to the OECD’s latest Interim Economic Assessment. Growth is proceeding at encouraging rates in North America, Japan and the UK. The euro area as a whole is out of recession, although output remains weak in a number of countries.

Carbon taxes and emission trading systems are the most cost-effective means of reducing CO2 emissions, and should be at the centre of government efforts to tackle climate change,according to a new OECD study.

The global economic crisis has had a profound impact on people’s well-being, reaching far beyond the loss of jobs and income, and affecting citizens’ satisfaction with their lives and their trust in governments, according to a new OECD report.

This note presents key findings for Japan from Society at a Glance 2014 - OECD Social indicators. This 2014 publication also provides a special chapter on: the crisis and its aftermath: a “stress test” for societies and for social policies.

Note summarising the performance of 15-year-olds in Japan in the PISA 2012 assessment of problem solving.

Firstly, and most importantly, this year marks Japan’s golden jubilee: 50 years as a member of the OECD. Japan was our first Asia-Pacific member country, and has paved the way to strengthen the OECD’s ties within the region. This year, for the second time, Japan is chairing our Ministerial Council Meeting – the most important annual decision-making event of the Organization, said Angel Gurría.

After two decades of low growth and persistent deflation, Japan is showing signs of renewed economic dynamism. But to regain its primacy as a leading economic powerhouse and raise the well-being of its citizens, Japan needs a structural reform package to narrow the productivity gap with leading OECD countries, notably by increasing the labour participation of women and older citizens.