Jobs, exports and business productivity all strong
The Gold Coast economy went into the pandemic shock in good shape, having seen jobs and exports grow strongly in the decade to 2021. Employment had been growing at more than 2 percent, almost twice the Queensland and Australian rate, and after the 2020 dive, rebounded to again increase by 2 percent in 2021.
Exports have enjoyed even stronger growth over the last ten years – 4 percent per annum, increasing to $2.38 million in 2021, again at distinctly higher rates than Regional Queensland (3.1%), Queensland (2.9%) and Australia (2.5%).
The 3.4 percent per annum increase in gross value add (GVA), or business productivity, has also been far stronger than average growth across Regional Queensland, Queensland and Australia.
The data points to a diversifying economy, in productive industries, with maturing professional services and technology sectors, according to economist Marcus Brown, of Bull and Bear Economics.
“The Gold Coast has a strong economic base that is turbo-charged by external stimulus from hospitality, tourism, education and service exports,” says Mr Brown, who addressed a recent business breakfast hosted by the City.
“In the short term, GRP is expected to lift from $39 billion to roughly $43 billion in the space of four years (to 2024).
That’s a sizeable bounce back that will bring with it a consequent increase in local jobs from 302,000 to 349,000.
Certainly, this is a level of economic growth well beyond what could be expected for Queensland more broadly.”
The Precinct contributes $3.4 billion in value-add to the Queensland economy and supports 21,000 jobs (2019)
