KEY POINTS
- A detailed publication covering performance and structural change within the services sector is now available.
- In 2009, services accounted for 67 per cent of GDP (around 79 per cent of total industry value added). Over the last 20 years services sector value added increased at an average annual rate of 3.5 per cent. The largest contributions to production in 2009 came from financial and insurance services (9.9 per cent), construction (6.9 per cent) and professional, scientific and technical services (5.9 per cent).
- Services industries accounted for 85 per cent of the two million Australian businesses operating as at June 2007 (the latest period for which data is available). During 2006-07, a net of 48,000 additional businesses entered the services sector – an increase of 2.9 per cent. Three quarters of these were entrants to the property & business services, construction and finance & insurance industries.
- The services sector is Australia’s biggest employer, employing more than 9 million persons at the end of 2008–09 financial year. This is around 86 per cent of the Australian workforce. The biggest employer within the services sector is healthcare & social assistance and retail trade (both accounting for 12.7 per cent of total employment), followed by construction (10.4 per cent of total employment).
- Services exports totalled $53.3 billion in 2009—an increase of 0.9 per cent on the previous year. The largest component of services exports is travel services, which contributed $32.6 billion.
- In 2007-08, 39 per cent of all surveyed businesses in the service sector were innovating. The largest proportion of innovating businesses was in the wholesale trade industry (51 per cent), followed by retail trade (51 per cent) and information media & telecommunications (45 per cent).
FACTS AND FIGURES
Definition and composition
The services sector is the broad description for a group of industries many of which are covered by other portfolios and at other levels of government. Most statistical surveys split services into the following sub-sectors, in accordance with the ANZSIC codes for 2006: electricity, gas & water supply services, construction, wholesale trade, retail trade, accommodation and food services,, transport,postal and warehousing, information media and telecommunications, finance & insurance, rental, hring and & real estate, professional science & technical, administrative and support services, public administration and safety, education & training, health care & social assistance, arts andl & recreational services and other services.
However, the old ANSZIC codes for 1993 are still being used for some of the older surveys. The old ANZSIC codes break down services as follows: electricity, gas & water supply, construction, wholesale trade, retail trade, accommodation, cafes & restaurants, transport & storage, communication services, finance & insurance, property & business services, government administration & defence, education, health & community services, cultural & recreational services and personal & other services.
Economic Performance
In the calendar year 2009, services industries accounted for $809 billion of gross value added
(67 per cent of GDP). Over the last 20 years, services sector value added increased at an average annual rate of 3.6 per cent. The largest contributions to economic production in 2009 came from financial and insurance services (9.9 per cent), construction (6.9 per cent) and professional, scientific and technical services (5.9 per cent). See Attachment A for more detail [1].
Size and growth
Services industries accounted for 83 per cent of the 1,963,907 Australian businesses operating as at June 2007. The property and business services industry had the largest number of businesses (492,453), followed by construction (308,405) and retail trade (217,684). During 2006–07, a net of 48,000 additional businesses entered the services sector—an increase of
2.9 per cent. Three quarters of these were entrants to the property and business services, construction and finance and insurance industries (see Attachment A for more detail) [2].
Employment
The services sector employed 9.3 million persons as at the end of the 2009 calendar year. This is around 86 per cent of the Australian workforce. The biggest employer within the services sector is healthcare & social assistance and retail trade (both accounting for 12.7 per cent of total employment), followed by construction (10.4 per cent of total employment) [3].
Exports and imports
Services exports totalled $53.3 billion in nominal terms in 2009—up by 0.9 per cent on the previous year. The largest components of services exports were travel services, which contributed $32.6 billion, other services, which contributed $13.3 billion and transportation services, which contributed $7.0 billion [4].
Innovation
Innovation is the development, introduction or implementation of new or significantly improved products, marketing, operational processes, and organisational/managerial processes. In 2007-08, 39 per cent of all surveyed businesses in the service sector were innovating. The largest proportion of innovating businesses was in the wholesale trade industry (51 per cent), followed by retail trade (51 per cent) and information media & telecommunications (45 per cent).
ATTACHMENT A:
Table 1: Services sector economic performance
| Services Sector Industries |
Value added a |
% of |
| GDP a |
|
Financial and insurance services |
119065 |
9.9 |
|
Construction |
83850 |
6.9 |
|
Professional, scientific and technical services |
71459 |
5.9 |
|
Health care and social assistance |
68301 |
5.7 |
|
Public administration and safety |
61325 |
5.1 |
|
Transport, postal and warehousing |
59795 |
4.9 |
|
Retail trade |
55211 |
4.6 |
|
Wholesale trade |
54755 |
4.5 |
|
Education and training |
49223 |
4.1 |
|
Rental, hiring and real estate services |
36,410 |
3.0 |
|
Information, media and telecommunications |
34,035 |
2.8 |
|
Electricity, gas, water & waster services |
28,820 |
2.4 |
|
Administrative and support services |
28,051 |
2.3 |
|
Accommodation and food services |
26,569 |
2.2 |
|
Other services |
21,863 |
1.8 |
|
Arts and recreation services |
10,295 |
0.9 |
| Total |
809,027 |
67.0 |
Source: ABS (a) Cat. No. 5206.0 Table 6, calendar year 2009. NB. ANZSIC 2006 codes in use for this data.
Table 2: Services sector composition
| Services Sector Industries |
No. of firms b |
No. net entries c |
% net entries c |
|
|
| Property & business |
492453 |
15055 |
3.1 |
|
| Finance & insurance |
129646 |
6941 |
5.4 |
|
| Construction |
308405 |
13999 |
4.5 |
|
| Health & community |
89228 |
3090 |
3.5 |
|
| Retail trade |
217684 |
1624 |
0.7 |
|
| Transport & storage |
115642 |
1681 |
1.5 |
|
| Wholesale trade |
84633 |
765 |
0.9 |
|
| Education |
15287 |
978 |
6.4 |
|
| Government administration |
n/a |
0 |
0 |
|
| Communication |
23191 |
807 |
3.5 |
|
| Electricity, gas & water |
2057 |
-89 |
-4.3 |
|
| Accommodation, cafes & restaurants |
55666 |
1012 |
1.8 |
|
| Personal & other |
55824 |
818 |
1.5 |
|
| Cultural & recreational |
45537 |
1271 |
2.8 |
|
| Total |
1,635,253 |
47,952 |
2.9 |
|
Source: ABS Cat. No. 8165.0, during 2006–07. NB. ANZSIC 1993 codes in use for this data.
References
1. ABS Cat. No. 5206 Table 33 (December quarter 2009 release).
2. ABS Cat. No. 8165.0 June 2003 to June 2007 (latest release).
3. ABS Cat. No. 6291.0.55.003 Table 4 (February 2010 release, November 2009 figures to represent end calendar year 2009).
4. ABS Cat. No. 5368.0 Table 10 (January 2010 release).