- Victoria's 6.3% forecast increase is larger than Australia's 4.1% overall
- According to the ABS, 236,000 Victorians have found jobs since September 2020
- $13 billion in support has been provided to communities and businesses since pandemic began
Victoria appears to be well and truly on the road to recovery with a Deloitte Access Economics March report forecasting the state’s gross state product to increase by 6.3% in 2021-2022.
This figure is above the forecasted growth for Australia’s GDP which is set to increase by 4.1% over the same time frame.
According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), over 236,000 Victorians have found jobs since September 2020.
The increase means the Victorian Government is halfway past its goal of creating 400,000 new jobs by the middle of the decade.
The unemployment rate in the State has also fallen to 5.6% as of February – only slightly above what economists describe as the ‘natural rate’ of 4.5% to 5%. The rate previously peaked at 7.5% amid the lockdown last June.
Victorian Treasurer, Tim Pallas, said the state’s economy had been outperforming the national average for the past decade and believes it will hold this record post-pandemic.
“Victoria is predicted to have the nation’s highest economic growth next financial year – that’s a credit to the hard work of Victorians and the fundamental strength of our economy.”
“These predictions of strong rises in household spending and business investment show that our recovery plan is on the right track as Victoria moves from strength to strength.”
Tim Pallas, Victorian Treasurer
In a statement, the Victorian Government added that over $13 billion has been provided to communities and business as a support measure to get through to the other side of the pandemic.
Like the rest of the country, the property sector in Victoria is booming, thanks in part to this economic growth.
Auction clearance rates are at record highs, averaging well above 80% and office occupancy is slowly increasing thanks in part to a push for office workers to return the CBD.
