Figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) in the past week show the ACT to have the strongest economy in the country.
The ABS statistics show the Territory’s Gross State product (GSP) — the measure of jurisdictional economy performance — grew by four per cent in 2017-18, well above the 15-year average growth rate of 3.3 per cent.
Welcoming the figures, Chief Minister, Andrew Barr said the strength of the local economy had helped create more jobs.
“Our investment in major infrastructure projects and our efforts to diversify our economy is supporting the creation of high quality, high paying jobs,” Mr Barr said.
“Growth in real GSP per capita in the ACT was 1.8 per cent in 2017-18, the second highest in Australia.
“This means that even though our population is growing rapidly by around 8,500 people a year, living standards are continuing to improve.”
He said that as the city grew, more funds would be allocated to the public healthcare system and to public education as well as a public transport network to keep the city connected.
The Chief Minister said the strength of the ACT’s economy was based on a number of different sectors including professional, scientific and technical services, which grew by 11.2 per cent in 2017-18, contributing 0.9 percentage points of the four per cent growth.
“Health Care and Social Assistance grew by 8.5 per cent, also contributing 0.9 percentage points to growth,” Mr Barr said.
“This is consistent with the ramp up of the National Disability Insurance Scheme.
“Administrative and Support Services were up 19.9 per cent, contributing 0.5 percentage points to growth, and construction was up 5.4 per cent, contributing 0.3 percentage points to growth on the back of continued growth in dwelling construction and the light rail,” he said.
ACT Treasury’s summary of the statistics can be accessed at this PS News link.
