Australia typically transports 5 million tonnes of freight per day, thus leaving no doubts as to why the transport industry is vital to the everyday life of Aussies.
In this article, we deliver to you 20+ captivating Australian transport industry statistics that will give you more insight into each sector of this industry.
Let’s dive in!
Key Australian Transport Industry Statistics to Remember
- GVA generated by transport, postal and warehousing increased by 4.3% in Q1 2022.
- Household spending on transport increased by 60% in the March 2022 quarter.
- In 2021, Australia’s road transport sector contributed $236 billion to the country’s economy.
- 79.5 % of vehicles travelling on Australian roads are passenger-carrying vehicles.
- The road freight transport sector is projected to employ over 202,000 people by 2025.
- Transport & Logistics noted revenue of over $100 billion in 2021.
- 33.2% of Aussies working in the transport and logistics sector are truck drivers.
- The rail freight sector has an annual revenue of $22.79 billion.
- The aviation industry suffered a 63% decline in international flights caused by COVID-19 restrictions.
- 80% of Australian high-value imports and exports are carried by marine shipping.
Australian Transport Industry Statistics
1. How big is the transport industry?
(Australian Bureau of Statistics)
In 2021, the transport industry experienced a drop in revenue of $229 million.In fact, throughout the 2020/2021 income year, the transport industry experienced a significant fall in all financial items except for government funding. Revenue dropped by 0.7%, while IVA shrunk by 4.4%, which translates to $3.3 billion.
However, as borders reopened and international travel was reinstated, a growth was noted in the industry. GVA generated by transport, postal and warehousing increased by 4.3% in Q1 2022, adding 0.2% to Australia’s GDP growth.
2. Household spending on transport increased by 60% in the March 2022 quarter.
(Australian Bureau of Statistics)
Spending on transport services increased in the first quarter of 2022, going up by 60% between December 2021 and March 2022, or by 69.9% between March 2021 and the same month the following year. Household spending on transport contributed 0.5 ppt to overall GDP growth.
3. In 2021, women made up 4.5% of the transport industry’s CEOs.
(Australian Industry Standards, Randstad)
As expected, the transport industry is not one of the female-dominated sectors in the country.Be that as it may, the number of women participating in the transportation workforce has increased from 16.9% in 2020 to more than 20% just a year later.
Road Freight Sector Statistics from Australia
4. In 2021, Australia’s road transport sector contributed $236 billion to the country’s economy.
(Roads Australia)
Why is the transport industry important to Australia? In 2019/2020, the road transport sector in Australia accounted for 5.3% (556,000 people) of the total employment nationwide. During the succeeding year, this sector contributed $74.2 billion in direct effects and $163 billion in indirect effects to the Australian economy.
5. In 2020/2021, there was a total of 230 billion tonne-kilometres transported by road.
(Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Communications)
The latest Australian trucking industry statistics show that articulated trucks transported 177.7 billion tonne-kilometres in 2020/2021, while rigid trucks and light commercial vehicles transported 43.2 and 9.3 billion tonne-kilometres of supply, respectively.
In addition, 83.1 billion tonne-kilometres of bulk freight were transported in 2020, in accordance with an upward trend that has steadily been sustained over the past decade.
6. In 2021, the road transport sector had a gross value added of $31 million.
(Statista)
The Australian road transport industry worth had slowly been increasing up to 2021 when it reached more than $30 million, an outstanding increase from the $27.8 million GVA of the previous year.
7. 79.5 % of vehicles travelling on Australian roads are passenger-carrying vehicles.
(Australian Bureau of Statistics)
During the period of 2019/2020, nearly 80% of vehicles that travelled on Australian roads were passenger-carrying vehicles, amounting to a total number of 15,706,844 vehicles. Passenger vehicles that stood at 14,7 million, accounted for 24.2% of Australia’s car market in 2020, preceded only by SUVs.
The second place was held by freight vehicles, which made up 20.4% of all vehicles travelling on Australian roads, leaving only 0.1% to non-freight carrying trucks.
8. 68% of the total tonne-kilometres travelled in Australia are attributed to intrastate freight movements.
(Australian Bureau of Statistics)
The ABS shows that 95.7% of all tonnes carried in Australia were intrastate, meaning the freight origin and destination were within the same state. This leaves only 11.5% of the total tonnes carried to interstate freight movements. However, out of the total tonne-kilometres travelled, more than 30% were attributed to interstate trips.
9. The road freight transport sector is projected to employ over 202,000 people by 2025.
(Australian Industry and Skills Committee)
Out of all the transport, postal and warehousing sub-sectors in 2021, the road freight transport sector had the biggest employment level estimated at 185,200. It is followed by:
- Postal and courier pick-up and delivery services – 112,300;
- Road passenger transport – 86,800;
- Warehouse and storage services – 75,400;
- Water transport support services – 14,600;
- Other transport support services – 33,100.
Transport and Logistics Sector Statistics in Australia
10. Transport & Logistics noted revenue of over $100 billion in 2021.
(Australian Industry and Skills Committee)
In 2021, the Australian transport and logistics sector recorded revenue of $101.51 billion. In the 2019/2020 income year, this sector contributed $39.91 billion to the Australian economy and employed more than half a million transport industry workers.
11. Australia’s freight and logistics market is projected to reach USD 114.32 billion by 2027.
(Mordor Intelligence)
Analysts foresee strong freight and logistics market value growth from USD 81.28 billion in 2021, up to more than USD 100 billion in 2027. The market value is projected to increase at a CAGR of 5.85%.
12. 33.2% of Aussies working in the transport and logistics sector are truck drivers.
(Australian Industry and Skills Committee)
What are the trends in the transportation industry? Data shows that truck driving is the most popular transport and logistics occupation, followed by bus and coach driving (14%).
Automobile drivers (12.3%) prove to be another popular part of the workforce, while delivery drivers (2.3%) are on the lower end of the popularity scale, even though they make around $27,400 a year and do not need any previous experience.
From Uber Eats and Menulog to DoorDash and Deliveroo, take a look at the highest-paying delivery services in the country.
13. In 2020, over 50,000 people enrolled in the transport and logistics program.
(Australian Industry and Skills Committee)
Australian transport industry statistics show a decrease in the number of students enrolling in the transport and logistics program.
Program enrolments peaked in 2016 (reaching 73,532), with 19,986 program completions. In 2019, the program’s enrolment number fell to 67,812 and then further dropped to 50,000 in the following year. The number of completed programs went down accordingly to 12,348 in 2019 and 9,447 in 2020.
Most of the program enrolments (28.3%) came from New South Wales, followed by:
- Victoria (27.7%),
- Queensland (21.4%),
- Western Australia (10.5%),
- South Australia (6.1%),
- Tasmania (2.3%),
- the Australian Capital Territory (1.1%),
- the Northern Territory (0.3%).
0.8% of students came from other countries, compromising a small share of the total of 422,095 overseas students across all industries and higher education institutions.
Warehousing and Postal Services Statistics
14. Australian postal services market size is valued at $9.2 billion.
(IBISWorld)
Australia’s postal services market size has experienced growth of about 3.2% in 2022, going from $8.9 billion to more than $9 billion. Furthermore, during the period from 2017 to 2022, the industry experienced annualised market growth of 1.6%, mainly fueled by the growth in online shopping.
15. In 2021, Australia had a transport, postal and warehousing labour productivity index of 93.84.
(Statista)
Australia’s transport, postal and warehousing productivity index has decreased in recent years, going down from its highest point (107.5) in 2017 to 93, just four years later. In the base year of 2020, the labour productivity index was 100, a subtle fall from the previous year (102.5).
16. The Australian postal and warehousing sectors employ 75.602 people.
(CEIC)
Australia’s transport, postal and warehousing sectors had the biggest amount of employment in 2019 when the numbers reached 100,000. From then on, the industry reached its lowest point (57,000) in 2020. Luckily, during the following year, employment got back up to 87,000 before dropping down to 75,000 in 2022.
Rail Freight Sector Statistics and Facts
17. The rail freight sector has an annual revenue of $22.79 billion.
(Australian Industry and Skills Committee)
The rail freight sector outpassed the $20 billion revenue mark and significantly contributed to the Australian economy, adding $8.77 billion in 2019/2020. Furthermore, the sector currently has 961 transport companies in Australia in all divisions, comprising both passenger and freight operators, suppliers, manufacturers, etc.
18. In 2020, the rail freight sector provided jobs for 10,000 people.
(Australian Industry and Skills Committee)
The Australian rail freight sector has maintained a steady employment rate over the past couple of years. However, in 2021 it experienced a significant drop to 5,500, decreasing by nearly half compared to the previous year.
On the other hand, the rail passenger transport sector saw an increase in employment levels, reaching 20,900 in 2021 (compared to 11,700 in 2020).
19. Rail freight transport volumes are projected to reach more than 515 billion tonne-kilometres in 2040.
(Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Cities and Regional Development)
According to projections, there should be a 16.4% volume increase in rail freight transport, with an average annual growth of 0.69%, mainly due to projected growth in the mining industry, namely an increase in iron ore and coal exports.
Air Freight Sector Statistics
20. The Australian aviation industry has a revenue of nearly $27 billion.
(Australian Industry and Skills Committee)
With $26.94 billion in revenue, the air freight sector in Australia contributed $10.73 billion to the nation’s economy in 2020. Additionally, the air and space transport sector had an employment level of 41,000 in 2021, while aeroplane operations and other air transport services reached 15,300.
21. Australia’s air freight sector has a market size of $10.1 billion.
(IBISWorld)
The Aviation Sector has been continuously growing, exceeding $10 billion dollars in market value, with a 9.3% growth in 2022. Furthermore, in the last five years, air freight services in Australia have had annualised market growth of 17%.
22. In 2021, there were 41,000 employments in the air and space transport sector.
(Australian Industry and Skills Committee)
Australia’s air and space transport sector reached its peak in 2017 with 61,000 employments before falling to 34,000 in 2020. Analysts predict that the employment rate will remain steady from 2021 (41,000) up to 2025 (42,200).
On the other hand, Airport Operations had 15.3 thousand employments in 2020, and that number is expected to fall to 13,000 in 2025.
23. The aviation industry suffered a 63% decline in international flights caused by COVID-19 restrictions.
(Australian Industry and Skills Committee)
The rise of the pandemic has put a serious strain on the transport industry. The aviation sector had a significant drop of 49% in domestic aircraft trips as only 19.6 million passengers travelled by air within the country in 2021, inbound tourism stats reveal. An even more staggering 63% drop in international movements was recorded the same year.
Sea Freight Sector Statistics
24. The Australian marine sector has an annual revenue of $5.76 billion.
(Australian Industry and Skills Committee)
With an annual income of almost $6 billion, Australia’s maritime sector contributed $2.03 billion to the Australian economy in 2020.
25. 84% of marine transport professionals are full-time workers.
(Labour Market Insights)
The majority of the 13,100 employed marine transport professionals are working full-time, earning $2,998 per week. Men occupy the bigger portion of the marine transport workforce, while females only take up 5%. Moreover, Queensland (31.6%) and New South Wales (23%) hold the biggest portion of marine transport professionals.
26. 80% of Australian high-value imports and exports are carried by marine shipping.
(Australian Industry and Skills Committee)
The shipping service industry is highly popular in Australia, as the country proves to be one of its top five users. Not only does Australia have 80% of its imports and exports carried by sea, but it also has a coastline of over 60 thousand kilometres and outshines every other nation in cruise passengers—it is estimated that one in 17 Australians has taken a cruise.
Bottom Line
The transport industry is already thriving in Australia, and as new technologies emerge and AI growing presence in this industry, it will expand even more, potentially lessening existing age and gender gaps. We genuinely hope that these Australian transport industry statistics helped paint a clearer picture of where the sector sits in today’s market.
FAQs
1.What is the largest sector of the transportation industry?
(Australian Institute)
The road transportation sector takes up 40% of the Australian transportation industry’s workforce, with nearly 150,000 transport industry workers. With an upward trend, the growing sector is projected to employ over 200,000 people by 2025.
2.How much does transportation contribute to the Australian economy?
(Australian Bureau of Statistics)
Spending on transport services contributed 0.5 percentage points to GDP growth in March 2022.
3.How many freight companies are there in Australia?
(IBISWorld)
According to an analysis conducted by IBISWorld, there are 57,650 businesses operating in the road freight sector. These companies employ a total of 149,733 people.
Sources
- Australian Bureau of Statistics
- Australian Bureau of Statistics
- Australian Bureau of Statistics
- Australian Bureau of Statistics
- Australian Industry and Skills Committee
- Australian Industry and Skills Committee
- Australian Industry and Skills Committee
- Australian Industry and Skills Committee
- Australian Industry and Skills Committee
- Australian Industry Standards
- Australian Institute
- CEIC
- Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Cities and Regional Development
- Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Communications
- IBISWorld
- IBISWorld
- IBISWorld
- Labour Market Insights
- Mordor Intelligence
- Randstad
- Roads Australia
- Statista
- Statista
