Economy of Australia

Australia has a highly developed mixed economy. In 2026, it was the 12th-largest national economy by nominal GDP, and it was also among the top exporters and importers in the world. Australia had a very long period without a major economic drop, lasting until the March 2017 financial quarter.

The country's economy is mostly based on services, which make up a big part of its total value. Even though mining has become less important, the economy has stayed strong and stable. Australia also has a strong system to support people in need, which takes up a large part of its economy.

Australia's main stock market is in Sydney, and it is one of the biggest in the Asia-Pacific region. Some of the biggest companies in Australia include Commonwealth Bank, BHP, and Rio Tinto. The country's money is called the Australian dollar.

Australia's economy is closely connected with countries in East and Southeast Asia, especially China, which is its biggest trading partner. Australia is part of many international groups and has trade agreements with many countries around the world, including the United States. This helps it trade more easily with places like New Zealand.

History

Main article: Economic history of Australia

20th century

Further information: Great Depression in Australia

Australia's economy grew steadily, with an average growth rate of 3.4% each year from 1901 to 2000. Unlike some nearby countries, Australia’s path to becoming a nation was calm, so its economy and way of life did not suffer much. Growth was strongest in the 1920s, 1950s, and 1980s. However, the late 1910s to early 1920s, the 1930s, the 1970s, and early 1990s saw tough financial times.

Economic liberalisation

Starting in the early 1980s, Australia began changing its economy. In 1983, under prime minister Bob Hawke, and mainly because of treasurer Paul Keating, the country’s money system was adjusted and financial rules were relaxed.

Early 1990s recession

Main articles: Early 1990s recession and Early 1990s recession in Australia

The early 1990s brought a tough time for Australia’s economy, starting after a big drop in global stock markets in 1987. This led to a recession where jobs were lost and money was tight. Paul Keating called it “the recession Australia had to have.” Even though it was hard, it helped keep prices stable for the future.

Mining

Main article: Mining in Australia

Mining has been very important for Australia’s economy, from the gold discoveries in the 1840s until today. Mining brought in lots of money and helped build roads, towns, and cities. After 1840, many people came to work, helping the economy grow. In Western Australia, mining iron ore and gold helped make cities like Perth grow and thrive.

2008 financial crisis

Main articles: Great Recession, Great Recession in Oceania § Australia, and 2008 financial crisis

Further information: Rudd government (2007–2010)

Australia was one of only a few countries that did not suffer a big economic drop during the worldwide financial crisis of 2008. The government spent money to help the economy, and because Australia trades a lot with China, which was doing well, the economy stayed strong. Even though the world was struggling, Australia kept growing.

2010s

Further information: Gillard government, Abbott government, Turnbull government, and Morrison government

Experts expected Australia’s economy to grow around 3% each year during this time. Some reports said growth might slow down, but the economy kept moving forward.

COVID-19 pandemic and recession

Main article: COVID-19 recession § Australia

In 2020, because of measures to stop the spread of the COVID-19 virus, Australia’s economy took a big drop for the first time in many years. This changed how people lived and worked across the country.

2020s recovery

Further information: Albanese government § Economy

After the tough times of 2020, Australia faced new problems like rising prices and difficulty buying homes. Even though the economy began to improve, many people felt the pressure of higher costs for food, gas, and housing. This made it hard for families to manage their money, and many felt that things were not getting better as fast as in other countries.

Data

The table below shows important economic numbers from 1980 to 2025, with some predictions for 2026 to 2029. When inflation is below 5%, it is shown in green.

In 2025, the growth in how much money each person made was 0.9%.

real GDP per capita growth

Overview

Australia has a strong and varied economy. Its amount of money per person is higher than in countries like the UK, Canada, Germany, and France. Australia was rated fifth in the world for quality of life in 2022.

Australia is rich in natural resources and exports many products, such as wheat, wool, iron ore, gold, and energy like liquified natural gas and coal. Even though these only make up a small part of the country’s total money, they are very important for exports. Japan, China, South Korea, India, and the United States are Australia’s biggest buyers.

The service sector, which includes tourism, education, and financial services, makes up most of Australia’s economy. Mining also played a big role in the past, but manufacturing has become smaller over time.

Government finances and policies

Main article: Australian federal budget

Welfare

Main article: Social security in Australia

Australia has a strong system to help people in need. The government plans its spending and taxes each year in something called a budget. This helps manage the country's money and support services like healthcare and education. There are also programs to help people who need extra support, such as those who are unemployed or elderly. These are part of the social security system, which aims to make sure everyone has basic help when they need it.

Employment

See also: Australian labour law

In March 2026, the unemployment rate in Australia was steady at 4.3%. The number of people looking for jobs but not finding them stayed the same, but more people stopped looking for work, dropping the rate of people taking part in the job market to 66.8%. Younger people, between 15 and 24 years old, saw fewer of them looking for jobs, but the number of those without jobs also went down a little.

As of June 2025, about 883,700 people were receiving help because they did not have jobs, which was 5.8% of all people who could work.

There has been some debate about how unemployment is measured, with different groups using different ways to count people without jobs.

In July 2025, jobs in Australia were found in many different types of work.

Employment for newly qualified professionals

A study of people who recently finished their education showed that finding full-time jobs was a little harder between 2012 and 2015. However, later reports showed that many of those who graduated in 2010 did find jobs three years later.

Some professional groups talked about problems with Australia’s rules about people coming from other countries to work.

States and territories ranked by unemployment rates

Note: All data in the table above is seasonally adjusted.

Sectors

Main article: List of largest Australian companies

Industry

Mining

Main article: Mining in Australia

See also: List of mines in Australia by status, Coal in Australia, Bauxite mining in Australia, List of iron ore mines in Australia, List of gold mines in Australia, Lithium mining in Australia, Rare-earth industry in Australia, and Uranium mining in Australia

Australia is good at finding valuable materials from the earth. In 2019, it was one of the top places in the world for finding gold, silver, copper, iron ore, bauxite, manganese, lead, zinc, cobalt, uranium, nickel, tin, phosphate, sulfur, and salt. It also finds beautiful stones like opal, diamond, ruby, sapphire, and jade. Australia makes a lot of energy from coal and natural gas, and it is a big seller of coal to other countries.

In 2014–15, getting these materials from the ground was worth a lot of money. Coal, oil, natural gas, iron ore, gold, and other metals all added up to a big part of Australia’s money.

Coal is mostly dug up in Queensland, New South Wales, and Victoria. About half of Australia’s coal is sent to other countries, mostly in East Asia. Coal helps make most of Australia’s electricity. Big mining companies like BHP and Rio Tinto are very important to Australia.

Rio Tinto’s Argyle mine in Western Australia was a big place for finding diamonds. It opened in 1983 and made lots of valuable pink and red diamonds. But it closed in 2020 because it ran out of material to dig up.

Petroleum

Main article: Petroleum in Australia

See also: Oil shale in Australia

Manufacturing

Main article: Manufacturing in Australia

See also: Automotive industry in Australia

Making things in factories used to be a big part of Australia’s work, but it has gotten smaller over time. In the 1960s, it was 30% of the country’s money, but by 2007, it was only 12%. Some car makers stopped making cars in Australia in the 2000s and 2010s.

Australia used to have a big textile industry, but that changed after the country opened up more to world trade in the 1980s. Since then, many clothes and fabrics are now made in Asia instead.

Agriculture, aquaculture and forestry

Main articles: Agriculture in Australia, Aquaculture in Australia, and Forests of Australia

See also: Australian wine, Seafood in Australia, Fish in Australia, and Australian live export industry

Farming, fishing, and cutting trees added about 2.1% to Australia’s money in 2019. Most farm products are sold to other countries. Water helps a lot in farming, even where it doesn’t rain much. From 2013 to 2015, farming grew and more people worked in this area.

Defence

Main article: Defence industry of Australia

Services

Jobs that use computers and technology are a big part of Australia’s work. These jobs are mostly in the big cities.

Housing and real estate

Main articles: Home ownership in Australia, Australian property market, Australian residential rental market, and Public housing in Australia

Banking and finance

Main articles: Banking in Australia, Insurance in Australia, and Financial system in Australia

Main articles: List of banks in Australia, Fintech in Australia, and Cryptocurrency in Australia

Australia’s four biggest banks are known for being very safe. There have been many business mix-ups and big money deals with Australian companies over the years.

Tourism

Main article: Tourism in Australia

Tourism helps Australia’s money a lot. In 2017/18, it added about A$57.2 billion to the country’s money. Many people visit Australia, and tourism jobs were about 5.2% of all jobs in 2017–18.

Creativity and culture

The work of artists, writers, and other creative people is becoming more important for Australia’s money. In 2016, these creative jobs added $122.8 billion to the country’s money, which was 7.4% of all the money made that year.

Retail

Main pages: List of supermarket chains in Oceania § Australia, Category:Retailing in Australia, and Category:Australian brands

Media and telecommunications

Main articles: Media of Australia, Telecommunications in Australia, and Internet in Australia

Australia is a good place for sharing news and information. Big companies like News Corp Australia and Nine Entertainment own many newspapers, TV and radio stations, and streaming services like Binge and Stan. Other big media companies include Paramount Australia & New Zealand, Seven West Media, and national broadcasters ABC and SBS.

Education

Main articles: Education in Australia, Tertiary education in Australia, and International students in Australia

Children in Australia must go to school from around age 5 until about age 16. Australia is good at teaching, and many students from other countries come to study there.

Healthcare

Main article: Health care in Australia

Science and technology

Main article: Science and technology in Australia

Infrastructure

Transportation

Main article: Transportation in Australia

See also: Road transport in Australia, Rail transport in Australia, Aviation in Australia, and List of ports in Australia

Australia's transportation helps its economy by contributing about 7.9% to the total economy in 2020–21. Roads are very important, adding more than A$245 billion to the economy. They help many industries like farming, making things, and building. Australia has over 300 airports with paved runways. Trains are used in big cities for everyday travel and also to move goods, especially for mining, to ports for export.

Energy

Main article: Energy in Australia

See also: Renewable energy in Australia

Australia's economy needs imported oil and petroleum products, with about 80% of these coming from other countries.

Electricity

Main article: Electricity sector in Australia

Water supply and sanitation

Main article: Water supply and sanitation in Australia

Trade and economic performance

See also: List of the largest trading partners of Australia, List of exports of Australia, Free trade agreements of Australia, and History of tariffs in Australia

In the second half of the 20th century, Australia’s trade shifted from Europe and North America to Japan and other East Asian markets. Regional businesses have grown into a large sector, now worth $128 billion, with new investors coming from Western Australia and Queensland.

In the late 1800s, Australia had the highest income per person in the world because of its rich natural resources. As the population grew quickly in the 1900s, Australia’s income per person dropped compared to places like the US and Norway. Still, Australia’s economy has done better than many others and has grown for over 20 years without stopping. Australia’s economy has been helped by the growth of the US, Japan, and China.

Further information: Australian government debt

Australia’s debt to other countries went above $1 trillion in April 2017 because of money it owes regularly. Even though this debt has gotten smaller recently, Australia still owes a lot, especially to foreigners. Most of this debt built up over ten years of spending more money than it made.

See also: Australia–China relations § Economic relations

Australia sells a lot of iron ore, wool, and other raw materials to China. Over 120,000 Chinese students study in Australian schools. China is also the biggest buyer of Australia’s debt. In 2009, Chinese companies wanted to invest $22 billion in Australia’s mining industry.

The China-Australia Free Trade Agreement signed in November 2014 could bring more Chinese investments as rules for farming and services become easier.

Australia has special visas for wealthy investors who put over five million Australian dollars into the country. This started in 2012 to bring in more money. Many of these investors have been from China. In 2017, Australia was a very popular place for Chinese people to invest their money.

Main article: Balance of payments of Australia

Australia’s economy has had big gaps between what it earns and spends on other countries for over 50 years. This is partly because Australia depends a lot on selling things like minerals, whose prices change a lot. Many companies in Australia are owned by people from other countries, which also makes these gaps bigger.

Even with these challenges, Australia has tried to grow its manufacturing. This helped it grow from 10.1% in 1983–1984 to 17.8% in 2003–2004.

See also: Income in Australia

Australia’s wealth per person grew a lot over the past decade. In reports, Australia was one of the richest countries in the world, with a lot of people having more than $100,000. This is because of a strong economy, many people owning property, and good jobs. Even during slower times for the economy, Australia kept being rich.

All in all over 43,150 deals have been completed national, inbound or outbound Australia. This cumulates to an overall value of US$2,554 billion. There was a strong upward trend between 1989 and 2007. In this peak year almost 3,100 deals took place, which is almost 60% more than in 2017, the current low. Australian companies are particularly investing in the fields of metals and minerals (15% of all deals from Australia into foreign countries). Runner-up is the oil and gas industry with only 6.4%.

Here is a list of the top 10 deals with participation of Australian companies as the acquirer or target company:

Poverty

See also: Poverty in Australia

In 2022, a report showed that poverty is growing in Australia. About 3.3 million people, or 13.5% of the population, live below the poverty line. This means they earn less than half of what most people in the country make. About 761,000 children under 15 are also living in poverty. Indigenous Australians face even higher rates of poverty, with 30% of Indigenous households having less money than others. They are one of the most socially and economically challenged groups in Australia.

Homelessness

See also: Homelessness in Australia

In 2011, there were about 105,000 people without a home in Australia. This was about 1 in every 200 Australians. By 2016, the number of people without a home had grown to around 116,000. This increase shows that more people in Australia were facing the challenge of not having a stable place to live.

Climate change

Australia's large economy plays an important role in the world. The country has grown steadily over many years, showing strong economic health and stability. This growth has helped Australia become a key player in global trade and finance. However, with this growth comes the challenge of managing its impact on the environment, especially in relation to climate change.