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Victoria and Tasmania tie for Australia’s top economy
For the first time in 11 years, Tasmania has topped the best-performing states, tying with Victoria, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, new research has found.
Victoria and Tasmania tie for Australia’s top economy
For the first time in 11 years, Tasmania has topped the best-performing states, tying with Victoria, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, new research has found.
According to CommBank’s State of the states, an above normal growth in population has led to a strong result for Tasmania, propelling it to first place.
Equaling top spot was Victoria, which was spurred on by economic growth, retail spending and construction work.
CommSec chief economist Craig James said: “While we’ve seen movement at the top of the rankings, there is actually little separating the top four economies. Overall, some of the biggest improvements over the past quarter have come from South Australia, Western Australia and Northern Territory as these economies start to close the gap between those leading the rankings.”
The ACT has overtaken NSW into third position with its highest ranking in over a year, leading the way on relative unemployment, housing finance and equipment investment.
NSW has slipped to fourth place, with South Australia and Queensland sitting in fifth and sixth position, respectively.
Western Australia remains in seventh position, ahead of Northern Territory.
However, the results did not take into account the impact of COVID-19 on the Australian economy.
“Regardless of the rankings, the impact of the coronavirus is posing significant challenges across all states and territories, especially those reliant on overseas tourism and overseas students. While each state and territory has its unique pressures, we really are all in this together.”
“Future reports will prove valuable as we track how each state and territory is navigating through the crisis and into an eventual recovery phase. For example, if we look ahead, recovery of the Chinese economy may boost prospects for resource economies like Western Australia, Northern Territory and Queensland. Also, the relaxing of social distancing restrictions and bringing forward of infrastructure projects may serve to boost recovery prospects of state and territory economies more generally,” Mr James concluded.
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