Greater Geelong has an estimated 145,000 local jobs and
22,800 businesses (June 2024). Jobs have been growing at an average 4.5 percent
per annum over the past five years, exceeding all other comparable cities in
Australia. 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.
With a population of almost 300,000, it’s expected to
increase by almost half again to reach 442,000 in the next twenty years. The
latest Regional Movers Index backs this up with Greater Geelong becoming
the country’s most popular destination among Australian movers, securing the
biggest share of net internal migration.
Greater Geelong’s Gross Regional Product (GRP) has now
tipped over $20 billion, growing at 4.6 percent per annum over the past five
years, the second fastest growth amongst all large regional cities and greater
capital cities in the country.
Local labour market conditions are strong with the
unemployment rate at 4.6 percent (December quarter 2024), sitting below the
ten-year average of 5.1 percent. Jobs and Skills Australia (Regional
Labour Market Indicator) consistently ranks Geelong's labour market performance
as strong or above average compared to the rest of Australia.
The industries that provide the most jobs in Greater Geelong
are:
- Health care and social
assistance
- Construction
- Retail trade
- Education and training
- Manufacturing
- Accommodation and food
services
- Professional, scientific
and technical services.
In the year to June 2024, there was a healthy mix of sectors
with significant employment growth spanning goods production, household, and
business services. Manufacturing experienced
the largest growth taking the sectors total employment above 10,000 to levels
not seen since 2013 (+947 local jobs), followed by education and training
(+937), health care and social assistance (+806), construction (+683) and financial
and insurance services (+662).
Sectors driving future growth are advanced
manufacturing, clean economy, professional business services, creative
industries and digital technology, agribusiness, health care, transport,
logistics and fulfilment and the visitor economy and events.
With an investment pipeline exceeding $16.2 billion, the economic
outlook is strong. There are 178 major projects
in the pipeline valued over $10 million, with a split of 25 percent proposed,
33 percent approved, 26 percent commenced and 16 percent recently completed. The largest investment types by value are industrial
and commercial projects ($4.5b), roads and transport ($2.4b), public building
and utilities ($1.9b), residential developments ($1.8b), medical and allied
health projects ($1.4b) and tourism related investments ($1.1b).
For more about the economy, visit our business and investment page.