page_title: Economy of the Australian Capital Territory
hierarchical_section_title: Economy of the Australian Capital Territory
caption_attribution_description: English: Axis from the Australian War Memorial to Parliament House, from Mt Ainslie, Canberra
context_page_description: The economy of the Australian Capital Territory is the fastest-growing, sixth biggest economy of Australia as of the end of the 2017-18 financial year. Since the introduction of its self-government status in 1989, and with few exceptions in 1992, 1996, and 2014, the ACT economy has exhibited positive growth at a 1991-2018 average of 3.17 percent per year. A vast majority of the economy is concentrated in Canberra, the capital city of Australia, and is composed primarily by service industries, particularly those related to the administration of federal and local government. Construction also contributes to an important part of the economy, boosted by large government-funded projects and an active residential market. In contrast to other Australian states and territories, primary sectors such as agriculture, forestry, and mining, represent a very small proportion of the economy. A negative balance of trade has characterised the ACT economy since 2012-13, with small goods trade and a growing service export industry comprised mainly by education and public administration services.
context_section_description: The economy of the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) is the fastest-growing, sixth biggest economy of Australia as of the end of the 2017-18 financial year. Since the introduction of its self-government status in 1989, and with few exceptions in 1992, 1996, and 2014, the ACT economy has exhibited positive growth at a 1991-2018 average of 3.17 percent per year. A vast majority of the economy is concentrated in Canberra, the capital city of Australia, and is composed primarily (about 75%) by service industries, particularly those related to the administration of federal and local government. Construction also contributes to an important part of the economy, boosted by large government-funded projects and an active residential market. In contrast to other Australian states and territories, primary sectors such as agriculture, forestry, and mining, represent a very small proportion of the economy (±1%). A negative balance of trade has characterised the ACT economy since 2012-13, with small goods trade and a growing service export industry comprised mainly by education and public administration services.
  As of March 2019, the ACT exhibits the lowest unemployment rate at 3.6 percent, with almost a third of workers being employed in the public sector. State inflation has been slightly greater than the national rate since mid 2017, reaching 1.8% in the year to Q1 2019. As per the 2016 census, median weekly personal income was A$998, while in 2017-18 total yearly disposable income per capita was A$91,336. Fiscal policy since 2012 has been expansionary, with gradual reductions in payroll tax rates and stamp duties (specially those related to SMS businesses and other small commercial properties). ACT SMS businesses have received government support thorough marketing and financial initiatives since 2012. The A$5.7 billion 2018-19 budget put emphasis on healthcare services, education, and justice and other community services.
caption: View of Canberra, primary economic centre of the Australian Capital Territory
exif: {"Image Make": "PENTAX Corporation", "Image Model": "PENTAX Optio 750Z", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "72", "Image YResolution": "72", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Optio 750Z Ver 1.01", "Image DateTime": "2005:07:10 16:58:18", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "Image ExifOffset": "474", "Image PrintIM": "[80, 114, 105, 110, 116, 73, 77, 0, 48, 51, 48, 48, 0, 0, 13, 0, 1, 0, 22, 0, ... ]", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "4596", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "5485", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/160", "EXIF FNumber": "19/5", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "80", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0220", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2005:07:10 16:58:18", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2005:07:10 16:58:18", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF CompressedBitsPerPixel": "4", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "3", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "102/5", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "2048", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "1536", "Interoperability InteroperabilityIndex": "R98", "Interoperability InteroperabilityVersion": "[48, 49, 48, 48]", "EXIF InteroperabilityOffset": "1018", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF DigitalZoomRatio": "1", "EXIF FocalLengthIn35mmFilm": "98", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF Contrast": "Normal", "EXIF Saturation": "Normal", "EXIF Sharpness": "Normal", "EXIF SubjectDistanceRange": "3"}