Fresh data showcases the growth of Greater Geelong’s economy in the twelve months to June 2023.
Our region boasted the fastest jobs growth of all large regional areas in Victoria and the fourth fastest in Australia over the past five years, at 5.1 per cent per annum.
A whopping 9,210 new jobs were created in 2022-23, reaching a total of 144,570 jobs, the 13th largest increase of all 537 local government areas in Australia. This is the second biggest annual increase on record.
The largest number of jobs created were in health care and social assistance (+3,768 jobs), professional, scientific and technical services (+928), financial and insurance services (+771), agriculture, forestry and fishing (+677), manufacturing (+563), wholesale trade (+515) and arts and recreation services (+420).
The significant jump in health care and social assistance jobs makes it our largest employing industry by far with a total of 30,838 jobs, double the size of the next largest sectors of retail trade (15,369) and construction (15,213). One in five jobs in our region are now estimated to be in health care, which covers hospitals, medical and allied health, residential and aged care, social assistance services and childcare.
The growth of professional and business services with 1,700 new jobs signals the continued diversification of our local economy. While agribusiness and manufacturing being amongst the top growing industries suggests a well-rounded economy and is positive news for future growth opportunities.
The only sector with a significant reduction in jobs in the 12 months to June 2023 was construction (-618).
Jobs are growing at double the rate of the population, maximising employment opportunities for residents and attracting people to move here not only for the lifestyle but also the career opportunities. The latest Regional Movers Index shows Greater Geelong is the third most popular region in Australia for its share of net internal migration over the last year, with a large number of movers being in the millennial demographic and providing a boost for our workforce.
Greater Geelong’s Gross Regional Product (GRP) increased by $928 million during 2023, taking it to $19.6 billion.
We had the third fastest GRP growth of all large regional areas in Australia over the past five years at 5.4 per cent per annum.
The largest contributors to this growth were health care and social assistance (+$238 million), accommodation and food services (+$149 million), financial and insurance services (+$125 million), transport, postal and warehousing (+$119 million) and professional, scientific and technical services (+$91 million).
Mayor Trent Sullivan
The latest data demonstrates the many strengths of our economy.
While the figures don’t reflect the challenges facing our region and the national economy over the past 12 months, the data does demonstrate how our diverse economy expanded and grew stronger.
To have more than 9,000 new jobs created in a year, the second highest increase after the 2022 record, shows just how attractive our region is to invest and is testament to the success of local businesses and our skilled and growing workforce.
Strong Local Economy portfolio chair Councillor Anthony Aitken
The future looks bright for the Greater Geelong economy.
Our Gross Regional Product grew at double the rate of Greater Melbourne and we had the fourth fastest job growth in Australia over the past five years to June 2023.
These impressive stats are set to provide confidence in our region and attract further projects and investment, which will only benefit our community.
