Geelong has a diverse economy with 18,000 businesses and a labour force of over 126,300 people.
Geelong’s
economy has been diversifying over many years and now has a much broader
industry base. Traditional manufacturing industries have been in decline and
have resulted in the closure of Alcoa’s Point Henry Aluminium Smelter (August
2014) and the closure of Ford’s manufacturing plant in October 2016. Both these businesses have been a
major part of the economic landscape in Geelong with Ford being established in
Geelong in 1925 and Alcoa in 1963.
Despite
this, key economic indicators show that Geelong has a strong local economy with
an investment pipeline that will provide job opportunities into the future,
particularly in emerging growth sectors. Geelong’s major industry strengths
include:
- health
- education and research
- advanced manufacturing
- defence
- information and communications technology
- tourism and
- food and agriculture.
Major
industry sectors include health care and social assistance (15 percent), Construction (10%), education and training (9 percent), manufacturing (8 percent) and retail trade (7 percent).
Trade through the
Geelong Port, Victoria's premier bulk port, also continues to be strong, with $7 billion of trade, 10 million tonnes of product and 600 vessels passing through the port and supporting 1,800 regional jobs annually.
Avalon Airport delivers both domestic and international passenger and freight services as well as being home to the Australian International Airshow.
Investment
in the region continues to grow with $4.3 billion in major construction and
redevelopment underway or planned.
For more about business and investment view our business and investment page.