Gold Coast Mayor, Tom Tate, says the local government area continues to be the largest regional economy in Australia, boasting a value of $49.4 billion across a diverse group of industries.
The findings for the 2023-24 financial year come following a State of the City Report, which was recently prepared by Deloitte for the City of Gold Coast Council for the previous financial year. The economic value increased by $4 billion in that year, the proud Mayor boasted.
“As the largest economy of any Australian non-capital city, and the first non-capital city expected to reach a population of 1 million by 2040, the Gold Coast is leading the way with unique and varied pathways for our residents and visitors,” he said.
“We have a strong economic outlook as a result of higher-than-average population growth and robust business investment which is outperforming Queensland and Australia.”
“Economic growth has presented significant opportunities for local employment and in-bound investment as well as providing unparalleled prospects for tourism and major events.
“It’s the enviable lifestyle and these diverse opportunities that are attracting people to our city in droves, whether it’s to live, work or play.”
The report highlighted the Gold Coast’s top five fastest growing sectors in terms of economic value add which are:
- construction ($5B)
- healthcare and social assistance ($4.5B)
- manufacturing ($3.1B)
- professional, scientific and technical services ($3B)
- retail trade ($2.9B)
“These key employment sectors have helped drive unprecedented growth which has been supported by targeted investment and strategic investment programs to diversify the economy,” Mayor Tate said.
He said City-owned entity, Invest Gold Coast, has been tasked with driving further growth looking for potential opportunities for investment and business opportunities across six priority sectors.
Invest Gold Coast will undertake targeted investment attraction initiatives to these priority sectors to increase opportunities for the local workforce:
- health and wellbeing
- tourism, sport and major events
- building future industries
- screen and game production
- the knowledge economy
- education and future skills
These sectors already inject a combined $20.5 billion into the local economy, which is expected to grow significantly as Invest Gold Coast seeks to expand the value of these priority sectors, supported by further investment from the City.
Invest Gold Coast Chair, Will Hodgman said the entity’s primary opportunity was in fostering collaboration between the public and private sectors to attract greater investment and build a larger workforce, enabling the city to reach its full economic potential.
“Invest Gold Coast is perfectly placed to work with sectors to attract investment and drive sustainable economic development to capitalise on this advantage,” he said.
The State of the City Report found that despite a challenging macroeconomic environment, the Gold Coast economy has been more resilient and has grown faster than other parts of Australia with an average growth rate of 5.5% annually.
This is significantly faster compared to Greater Brisbane (4.5%) and all other Australian capital cities. The Gold Coast economy is estimated to be approximately 10.1% larger by 2028, again, exceeding the growth of Brisbane (9.5%), Queensland (7.9%), and Australia (7.9%). The population is growing at 2.6% a year with the population expected to reach 1 million by 2040, the report stated.
While the population growth is across all ages, it’s the under 20s who will see a 38.3% increase by 2046 which exceeds Brisbane (5.7%) and Queensland overall (23.1%).
“Our population growth is bringing a stronger labour force pipeline and increased demand for education services in the region,” added Mayor Tate.
“Education services are a key priority to sustain the younger population and ensure there are opportunities for them to live and work on the Gold Coast.”
