Economic and business climate

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Economic and business climate

Economic and business climate

This section provides information on:

the size of the NSW economy
economic growth and prospects
major industries
political and economic stability
business taxes
international standing of Australia's financial institutions
intellectual property rights protection.

Australia has a strong and flexible economy, which was the 13th largest in the world in 2009. The economy has proven its resilience, recording 19 uninterrupted years of growth to 2009-10. In fact, Australia's economy was recognised by the IMD World Competitiveness Yearbook as the second most resilient in the world in 2010. GDP growth has averaged an impressive 3.4% per annum over the last 19 years.

Australia has capitalised on its proximity to the emerging Asian markets to propel economic growth in recent years. Economic growth has also been supported by comprehensive and ongoing economic reforms, and world's best practice financial, legal and political systems. These have strengthened the foundations of Australia's competitiveness, with the IMD ranking Australia fourth out of 58 countries for government efficiency, fifth for business efficiency, and fifth for overall competitiveness.

Australia's business sector operates under a well-established corporate governance framework which ranks highly for legal rights, oversight, ethics, values and social responsibility, and auditing and reporting standards. Australia's financial regulatory environment is recognised as one of the best in the world for promoting stability and certainty and its banks are well managed and profitable.

The New South Wales economy is diverse, and the largest in Australia. The total value of goods and services produced in the State is higher than for many national economies in the Asia Pacific. More than 80% of New South Wales' industry income is derived from services, highlighting the strength of the State's knowledge-based business and professional services, ICT and creative industries, as well as tourism. Sydney itself contributes nearly one quarter of Australia's gross domestic product.

New South Wales has a sound platform for promoting future economic growth, with its share of population growth the highest in almost a decade and high per capita income. In 2010, New South Wales recorded private business investment of $50 billion in real terms, which was almost 10% more than the next placed State.

New South Wales continues to enjoy AAA credit ratings from Standard & Poor's and Moody's, a testament to its sound record of financial performance, diverse economic base and capacity to withstand changing economic circumstances.