Figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics reveal that mining and finance made the largest contributions to Australia's trend growth of 2.3 per cent in the year to December 2014 (0.5 percentage points each).
Further, the increase in gross value added by mining in the year to December 2014 (seasonally adjusted) was:
- $60.2 billion (16.3 per cent) for iron ore mining
- $21.1 billion (6.7 per cent) for coal mining
- $134.6 billion (8.9 per cent) for mining as a whole
- While the industry faces a more constrained environment, it is important not to take for granted the gains secured from a larger mining industry and the extent to which they endure.
If the growth in mining (including oil and gas) had been zero in the year to December 2014, then:
- The Australian economy would have been $134.6 billion smaller in seasonally adjusted terms;
- Australia's GDP for the year to December 2014 would have been $1.444 trillion instead of $1.578 trillion in seasonally adjusted terms;
- Australia's trend growth rate for the year to December 2014 would be 1.8 per cent instead of 2.3 per cent.
"The National Account figures reflect just how important the long-term success of the mining industry is to the overall national economy," said MCA Chief Executive, Brendan Pearson.
