The Queensland economy is ready to move on from its mining days and ride the “next wave”: gas, tourism, agribusiness, international education and wealth management.
According to the Deloitte Queensland Index 2014, employment growth in Queensland over the next five years is expected to average 2.5% per annum. That compares with expected employment growth for Australia as a whole of 1.7% per annum over the same period.
The state’s population growth is also expected to perform better, after experiencing slow population growth over the past couple of years. The index expects to see the population grow around 2.2% per annum, forecasting to reach five million people in 2016 and six million ten years later, in 2026.
Sustained low interest rates are also sparking investor interest in housing and increasing housing construction levels. Queensland was particularly hard hit over recent years with greater pull back in commercial and residential sectors than elsewhere in Australia.
Chris Richardson from Deloitte Access Economics said “Queensland’s economy is performing better than its residents realise, and the State is predicted to outperform New South Wales and Victoria over the coming years in terms of population growth, employment growth and overall economic growth."
The transition from mining investment has been helped by the parallel investment phase in the coal seam gas to liquefied natural gas for export projects. This helped Queensland avoid what could have been a very significant fall in activity as the mining boom ended.
John Greig, Deloitte Queensland managing partner said “As we move into the mining and gas production phases, and hopefully assisted by a weaker Australian dollar, we can look forward to more broad based and stable growth over the coming years.”
