Here’s a series of Australian Manufacturing facts and stats to give you an insight into the current state of Manufacturing in this country and across the globe.
Snapshot: Australian Manufacturing Facts
- Manufacturing is Australia’s 7th largest employer and accounts for 6.8% of all employment.
- Manufacturing is Australia’s 5th largest industry for economic output, contributing 6.3% to GDP.
- The whole manufacturing supply chain supports 1.27 million Australians in work.
- Manufacturing peaked as a share of the Australian economy in the early 1960s, when the sector grew to 30 per cent of the economy and of employment.
- Australian manufacturing output for 2021 was $85.86bn, a 14.42% increase from 2020.
- Caltex (AMPOL), Fonterra Co-Op Group and BP Australia are currently the 3 largest manufacturers in Australia by revenue.
- Amcor, which makes packaging and containers, is the largest employer with over 33,000 employees.
Manufacturing Sectors
- Tea, Coffee and Other Food Manufacturing in Australia reached a $9.6bn market size in 2022.
- The Gross Value Added (GVA) of the machinery and equipment manufacturing industry in Australia amounted to around $25bn.
- This year Sheet Metal Product Manufacturing in Australia sits at a market size of $1.9bn.
- The Australian steel industry generates $29bn in annual revenue.
- Approximately 5.3 million tonnes of steel are produced in Australia annually by two producers, Bluescope and Liberty InfraBuild.
- There are 849 individual pharmaceutical manufacturing businesses in Australia.
- Revenue in Manufacture of Other Non-Metallic Mineral Products is projected to amount to US$275.40bn in 2022. An annual growth rate of 1.75% is expected (CAGR 2022-2025).
Australia’s Vehicle Manufacturing Industry
- The first international carmaker to open operations in Australia was Ford.
- Ford Australia was founded in Geelong, Victoria, in 1925 as an outpost of Ford Motor Company of Canada not Ford USA. Henry Ford had granted the manufacturing rights of Ford motor vehicles in the British Empire to Canadian investors.
- Ford Australia announced that it would leave the Australian market after 88 years in May 2013 due to uncompetitive manufacturing costs and lacklustre sales.
- Ford Australia’s first products were Model T cars assembled from complete knock-down (CKD) kits provided by Ford of Canada.
- The first Australian-designed mass production car was manufactured by Holden in 1948.
- Australian manufacture of cars rose to a maximum of almost half a million in the 1970s (10th place in the World) and still exceeded 400,000 in 2004.
- The Ford Australia engine and vehicle plants closed in October 2016 and the Holden and Toyota Australia factories closed in late 2017.
- From 1996 to 2010, the highest selling passenger vehicle in Australia was the Holden Commodore, since then, the Toyota Corolla and the Toyota HiLux have topped the list.
- The largest vehicle manufacturers in Australia are now Volvo, PACCAR (Kenworth) and CNH Industrial Australia (IVECO), manufacturing trucks.
Random Facts!
- Approximately six million hand driven rivets and 53,000 tonnes of steel, and 272,000 litres of paint were used in the construction of the Sydney Harbour Bridge.
- 17.5 million steel cans are recycled each week in Australia.
- 422,271 Industrial robots were sold worldwide in 2018.
- For Every $1.00 Spent on Manufacturing, $1.37 is Added to the Economy.
- China is the worlds largest manufacturer, followed by Europe and the US.
- There are 2,801,143 factories in China.
- The Eiffel Tower built in 1889 contains 18,038 large pieces of wrought iron all of which had to be fabricated and held in place with over 2 million rivets
- An average computer is actually 25% steel.
- In 1937, 83,000 tonnes of steel were needed to make the Golden Gate Bridge. Today, only half of that amount would be required.
- 80% of the world’s air conditioners are made in China.
