A strong economy

A resilient economy

Over the past five years, the Australian economy has emerged as one of the strongest in the developed world.

Our economy is now 13 per cent larger than it was when the Government came to office, with around 950,000 jobs created over this period. In contrast, around half of all advanced economies have not regained lost output from the GFC and millions of jobs have been lost in the rest of the developed world.

Our government debt is among the lowest in the developed world and we are one of only eight countries in the world with a stable AAA credit rating from all three major global rating agencies.

A bright outlook

Australia’s economic fundamentals are strong and our outlook remains bright.

While many other advanced economies are in a weak position or in recession, with high unemployment and high public debt levels, Australia is in a dramatically different situation.

Our nation faces an enviable outlook of solid growth, low unemployment, contained inflation and strong public finances, and is expected to outperform most advanced economies over the next two years.

Our strong ties with Asia will open up new opportunities across all sectors of our economy, including resources, manufacturing, services and agriculture.

Economy in transition

From this position of strength, our economy is expected to begin two big transitions in the near term.

The resources sector will transition from unprecedented growth in investment to exceptional growth in exports, as big resource projects ramp up their production. More broadly, the economy will transition towards non‑mining sources of growth.

This transition is unlikely to be seamless, with the high dollar weighing heavily on some sectors.

As the economy transitions to new sources of growth, the Government is getting the policy settings right to help Australia make the most of the opportunities ahead.