Work and investment

Geelong has a diverse economy and is experiencing some of the strongest growth in Australia.  

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.





Page last updated: Friday, 11 July 2025

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